


I'll fight for you

by Chaeyeon29



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/M, Genderswap, Magic, idk what this is, magicau?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-21 05:21:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 105,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12450468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaeyeon29/pseuds/Chaeyeon29
Summary: For a person that had a calm and stable lifestyle, Yoo Jeongyeon sees his life turning upside down when he is acussed for a crime he didn’t remember committing. Besides the obvious problem of not knowing why that actually happened or even how it happened, his mind flips even more when he discovers that the crime was committed because of a girl with especial magic abilities that was in terrible danger. Jeongyeon encounters himself trapped in an unexpected journey along with two magical girls to find out how the magic society actually works and why he was involved in all of this.





	1. Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is my first work here so be patient with me ;)  
> I started writing this out of boredom and decided to post bc why not. I'm not a really good writer and English is not my first language but I'll make an effort to make this fic enjoyable at least :)

It was late, the clock was ticking.  
For a long time Jeongyeon waited, stepping carefully on the tiles of the kitchen floor, he sighed letting his shoulders drop of tiredness, his eyes starting to close by their own as he was starting to feel sleepy. Still, the work had to be done, or his father was going to blame him again from being incompetent.  
Some time passed, an intriguing sound suddenly startled him, the night was calm, it made every little noise sound like a hurricane trapped between that four walls. He sat down to wait more, alone.  
The monotonous feeling lingered in the air that time of the night, Jeongyeon knew he always had to wait for the hour to pass to get out of there and finally crash on his bed. After a while, the clock signalized the end and he closed the heavy glass doors of the restaurant before leaving by the backdoor, he was there just to clean and close before his shift starts again. He sighed one more time before giving a look at the place, it belongs to his father and he was working there for a while after dropping his studies. Everyday he thinks about if it was the right decision.  
The noises and strange sounds of the too much empty street around that corner made him bothered somehow, like an unexpected feeling of awareness, it was dark, only one street light on and the moonlight to cover his frame.  
With his hands tucked on his pocket, Jeongyeon grabbed his cellphone to give another look at the hour again.  
" 3AM, great" He said under his breath.  
It was like his steps could be heard from miles away. Jeongyeon quickly arrived in front of his car, a light suddenly shone behind him and reflected on his eyes for a second, it was so bright compared with the darkness of the place. He turned around quickly when a scream encountered his ears.  
" Help!" A male voice came from an alley about ten steps from his car. Jeongyeon gulped down and stared blanking in front of him. With light steps he followed the noise but his attention and heartbeat suddenly perked up by the sound of two gunshots coming from the place.  
.  
One in the shoulder and one in the heart, the almost lifeless body flopped on the ground before leaving his last of breath, his red hair mixing with his blood, his hands covering his exposed wound, Mark gazed the shooter that was distancing from the scene and for a moment he saw the guy turning the corner with smirk on his face. With the last bit of his strength he stained his fingers with blood seeing the chance to leave a hint or at least a piece of hope for anyone that discovered about his death. But that was the kind of hint that tricked the eyes of whoever scan it, the sign of the ones able to see, the ones determined to protect their secret with all cost. At least he did that, the police would never know about it because of its magic properties, only the ones that belong to their so hidden society would be able to realize that that wasn't just a murder but and assassination seeking for a bigger conflict. The not far from death guy enchanted the symbol to disguise from the curious eyes of the people without a trace of magic. Their secret must be kept and the person who killed him must pay.  
As the shooter, he was long gone after he left the alley, he actually found exactly what he was looking for, a curious Jeongyeon that was too naive and saw the body in the alley, he ended up being enchanted and fooled by the killer to forgot that something ever happened. Little did Jeongyeon knew that he was supposed to be exactly there, after all, he was an important piece of the puzzle, he just didn't know that yet.  
>>>>>>  
The next morning was normal, at least for him. Jeongyeon woke up, his head hurting a little. He just got up because he knew that work was waiting for him, like every normal day.  
" Dude, you were so weird yesterday" Jackson exclaimed when Jeongyeon got in the kitchen.  
" What?" Jeongyeon asked looking around for his mug.  
The guy lives with his friends Jackson and Jinyoung which by the way were doing breakfast that hour, Jinyoung was too focused trying to flip a pancake to pay attention on his friends.  
" You were like a zombie" Jackson said and did a poor imitation of one of that TV monsters.  
" Really? I don't even remember coming home" Jeongyeon said more to himself before sitting on a chair to wait for his food.  
" Just tell me what are you smoking to get that high" Jackson said wiggling his eyebrows. Jinyoung glared the duo and also sat down to eat, the kitchen was a mess because they tried to cook being who they are but the food was smelling so good that Jeongyeon contained himself of scolding them about hygiene.  
" I don't do this kind of stuff" Jeongyeon said taking a sip of his coffee. He was a little bothered with the fact that he can't remember what happened the other night, not even a thing about getting home and looking dead like what Jackson was telling him.  
" Jinyoung! Tell him" Jackson said begging with his puppy eyes.  
" First, close your mouth while eating" Jinyoung said to Jackson with a hint of annoyance.  
" Second, he is kind of right" He completed to Jeongyeon.  
" Guys, just forget about it ok" Jeongyeon said.  
The morning breeze was starting so get through the window of their apartment. Jeongyeon got up and closed it, the sun was so bright, the sky so clear, nothing could ruin that beautiful day. Or he thought so.  
The first sign of his absolutely lack of luck was when Jackson decided to turn the TV on to see the news. Jeongyeon's eyes widened when he saw the broadcast showing the front of his father's restaurant.  
" Dude..." He could hear Jackson gasping with his mouth open while the reporter talked about a murder that happened really close to there on the other night. Their neighborhood was so quiet that they three couldn't remember the last time something like that ever happened in the place, everyone was shocked.  
" Oh God, did you not see this?" Jinyoung asked to the guy near the window while pointing to the covered dead body on the TV screen.  
" I... don't remember" Jeongyeon said under his breath. At that moment, his wrecked train of thoughts were interrupted by his cellphone ringing loudly in his pocket.  
' Father' The screen showed, he didn't hesitate to pick up.  
.  
.  
.  
The news spread fast, Jeongyeon quickly arrived in the place to show his support to his family and to see if anyone knew what was going on. Of course, he was interrogated by his father because the guy knew that Jeongyeon was all alone there the other night.  
"I heard they saying that happened around three am. Did you see anything?" His father asked. They were sat on one of the tables of the now closed restaurant, Jeongyeon was facing a window to see the movement outside. He hesitated.  
" No" He said.  
His hesitation didn't go unnoticed.  
" Ok. Don't work today, I've already warned the others, go home and rest" The old man said before giving him a pat on his shoulder.  
" Fine"  
>>>>>  
" What do you mean he is dead?" The girl raised her voice to the people saying the news. The police officers were engaged to discover how they let someone get murdered like that.  
" We're sorry" One cop said before leaving the place to give them some space. The whole family was reunited in the living room, luggage filled the place, everything was organized for the said girl to leave the town with her now dead friend the night before, but it was obviously too late. They were reunited to wait for Mark all along, the situation was getting dangerous, they knew that as soon as Mark arrive they had to hide the girl. But Mark never showed up, someone got him first.  
" He can't be dead! What are we going to do now, Mina?" Sana said to her friend desperate, tears started to heavily fall from her eyes.  
" Calm down ok?" Mina, her friend, hugged her holding her own tears.  
" Don't worry Sana, we will protect you" Sana's father said patting her back.  
" What are you saying? Mark was supposed to protect me and now he's dead. It's all my fault" Sana said crying harder and sobbing.  
" What are we going to do now?" Mina asked to Sana's parents that also looked distressed.  
" We have to take her out of here, it's not safe"  
" But without Mark..." Mina let a lonely tear fall out of her eyes, the idea of her friend dying just like that was starting to make her heart ache.  
" Find another way" Sana's father said.  
" Let the police investigate first, they will try to reach you Sana, you can't leave now my dear" Her mother said patting her head.  
Sana held her breath and nodded, guilt was starting to fill her mind and trying to eat her alive, Mark wasn't the first one to get hurt because of her and at that moment she was starting to be preoccupied about losing Mina as well. Sana hugged her best friend even tighter when the thought crossed her mind.  
" I'm sorry" Sana mumbled holding the girl closer.  
" It's not your fault" Mina said with her cracking voice.  
" It's all because of me. He was there trying to keep me safe" Sana said closing her eyes and clenching her fist.  
" It's not, you didn't choose to be born like this, nor in this family, but I'll be here to protect you" Mina mumbled patting her back.  
" Thank you" Sana said behind her breath. Mina flashed her a sad smile.  
.  
.  
.  
Hours passed after the news, the police were investigating and Jeongyeon later discovered that his father told the cops that he was supposed to be there that hour, Jeongyeon knew he would be questioned but he doesn't know how he can explain that the last thing he remember is swiping the floor of the restaurant.  
' Calm down' He was telling himself.  
' It's not like I killed the guy' He thought and chuckled a bit. At that moment he was home seeing Jinyoung and Jackson fighting about what they were going to watch, the sun was starting to fade and hide for the moon to show up.  
Not even ten minutes later he received the so waited visit, a police officer and a detective were waiting on his doorstep.  
" Come in" Jeongyeon invited the two.  
" We're going to do this in the station so please come with us sir" The cop said. Jeongyeon eyed suspicious at the two.  
" Ok"  
>>>>>>  
Sana was already there for a while now, she could see the cops going everywhere around to investigate what was troubling them, she heard the footsteps and rush in the police station while she waited for whatever they called her there. However, she knew the reason, her parents warned her about that, they would be interrogated because the police would look for probable causes behind Mark's murder, they were just there trying to be normal when they all knew that the truth must be protected by all cost. Sana saw how much the other people were trying to discover everything and imagined the chaos if those cops ever find out what was really going on, that the problem goes beyond their little mind capacities and that they didn't had the strength to face the powers of the people seeking for her in search of possessing her special abilities.  
For an instant, Sana heard the big doors of the place being open and faced them, she saw the lead detective of the case accompanied by a police officer and other guy that she couldn't really see from the distance. Sana felt her mom getting up and talking with her but her focus was at the three guys and it was like something was attracting her to there.  
That was the first time she saw Jeongyeon. The echoes of the place started to get loud and slow, the three guys were already passing by her but it all happened in slow motion from her perspective, she heard whispers in the back of her mind from unknown voices telling her that they found a suspect and he was being brought to interrogation, like the cops talking in the distance and she immediately knew that they were referring to the tall guy with blond hair passing not so far from her. Their eyes only met for a second before Jeongyeon disappeared to some room and at that moment Sana could see right behind his gaze that he wasn't the true assassin.  
" Sana! Are you ok? You blanked out" Her father asked worried.  
" Uhm? Fine" She said gulping down a feeling in her throat, it was like everything was normal again and nothing had happened.  
Eventually, her mother got back accompanied by Mina, that had left earlier to also see the crime scene.  
" So, what happened?" Sana's father asked to Mina. The girl sat down beside Sana to tell them the information.  
Mina explained to them how she passed through the security and found the exact place that Mark was shot, an alley beside the restaurant. She told them about how the police thought that the killer was close in the time of the shot and probably stained his clothes, and also about the little symbol Mark left with his own blood.  
" You're right, they sent someone to kill him, we have to leave" Mina completed after telling the facts.  
" They have a suspect already" Sana's mother said what she heard earlier.  
" It wasn't him" Sana mumbled with her head down. They were able to hear what she said.  
" What do you mean?" Her father asked.  
" He didn't kill Mark" Sana said certain of the thought.  
" Sana, did you use your powers?" Mina asked worried.  
"... I don't know. Maybe?"  
" Are you feeling ok?" Her mother asked.  
" I'm fine" Sana said flashing them a fake smile. Mina noticed that but said nothing and tangled her arm with Sana's for the girl to know that she is there.  
Sana was still developing her resistance and if she really used her abilities to know all of that, Mina knew that the girl could even pass out from the effort.  
" Let's wait a little more" Sana's father said. He then left claiming to discover who was the guy the police were suspecting.  
.  
Inside the interrogation room, Jeongyeon was starting to feel nervous with all of that and the waiting the police was making him pass through. Just in time, the detective got in the room to question him, the guy sat in front of him with a distinct expressionless face.  
" I'm detective Choi YoungJae and I have some questions about last night Mister Yoo" The detective said passing a hand through his dark black hair before opening a file and placing the pictures of the dead body in front of him scattered at the table.  
" Right" Jeongyeon said already aware that they suspect something from his side.  
" We have the information that you were probably there that hour of the night, around three am" YoungJae said crossing his arms.  
" Right"  
" So, do you confirm that you were there?" YoungJae asked narrowing his eyes. Jeongyeon nodded, he can't even recall if he was exactly there.  
" Of course, you were" YoungJae said and smirked a bit.  
" You know, almost no one heard the shooting, as you can see two close range shots were made. One passed right through his heart" The detective said showing the pictures. Jeongyeon gulped down and uneasy feeling.  
" Did you see anything suspicious that night?"  
" Nothing that I can remember" Jeongyeon was telling the truth.  
" What were you doing that hour, Yoo Jeongyeon?" YoungJae gazed him serious. Jeongyeon looked away a bit.  
" Were you probably passing by? Or you saw the shooting? I can tell that something is bothering you" YoungJae said like he was seeing right through the guy, but for the wrong reasons.  
" Look, I'm tired, you're probably tired as well so let's make this easier ok? How do you know the victim?" YoungJae asked surprising him.  
" What? I don't know the victim" Jeongyeon said crossing his arms.  
" If you don't know him... Why the hell did you kill him?" YoungJae said, he quickly got a glimpse of Jeongyeon's eyes changing from suspicious and nervousness to desperation, the news hit exactly how he thought so.  
" What? I didn't kill him, I'm saying that I don't even know the guy" Jeongyeon said worried.  
" So... How do you explain this?" YoungJae took a cellphone of his pocket and played a video. It was from the street-cam near the restaurant and showed a slim guy with Jeongyeon's featured leaving the alley with a gun and his clothes stained of blood, they couldn't see the guy's face clearly though, it was the only footage left of that night because the rest disappeared somehow.  
" This isn't me. People look alike" Jeongyeon said preoccupied, although he can't deny that it really looks like him and the clothes even match the ones he was wearing the other night.  
" But yet, you were the only one around that hour, think about how much of a coincidence would it be a guy that looks exactly like you and walking right beside the place you work. I'm not here to hear how things like this don't really happen so cut the crap and save our time" YoungJae said maintaining his patience and even smiling.  
" But, I'm telling you that I didn't kill him!"  
" And yet, I don't hear an explanation or an alibi"  
" I have an alibi, ask my roommates if I arrived home like this" Jeongyeon said taping the screen.  
" You can't tell that this is me and you can't keep me here" Jeongyeon said getting up and opening the door.  
" Don't leave the town Mister Yoo" YoungJae said with a smirk before the door was closed brutally by the other.  
*


	2. Transition

The day passed with expectations.

As far for the moment, their so called hidden magic society received the news well for their surprise. The sides of the conflict were starting to be traced and from now on all the families with magic abilities knew they had to choose who they would support through the process. Sana's family belong to the high scale of the community because of the girl splendid and still unexplored powers. For the moment, they hoped that reason could defeat fear and the others families were gather by their side, they just didn't count with being stabbed in the back by the others like that, Mark was dead and if they wanted a conflict, now they had one.

.

.

.

Jeongyeon couldn't believe what just happened to him, he understands why the police is so engaged in discovering the killer, it's always so calm around there that he knows why everyone is so shocked. It even looked like a whole different neighborhood when he remembered seeing the number of people with curious eyes reuniting around the crime scene earlier. He was still in the police station and it was so noisy that his head started to spin. Jeongyeon stepped quickly to leave the place, it smelled too much like coffee and death around there, but his rapid steps were interrupted when he bumped into someone.

" Sorry" Jeongyeon apologized a little distracted. The guy he accidentally hit was Sana's father that eyed him up and down, but he remembers that Sana said the guy isn't the killer. Jeongyeon started to leave, the older guy preferred to let him go and proceeded to where he was going.

" Oh, detective" Sana's father called Detective Choi from the distance.

The detective came closer to him.

Sana's father needed to know who as that guy somehow, he insisted in talking with Detective Choi and making the guy tell him what he wanted to know. YoungJae saw no reason in they knowing who is the suspect and ended up telling Jeongyeon's name.

" Fine... He's name is Yoo Jeongyeon. Now I have to work so goodbye and good luck" YoungJae said before leaving.

_' Yoo Jeongyeon, he is definitively not the killer... But this is suspicious'_ Sana's father thought getting back to his family. He just found Sana and Mina waiting since his wife was being questioned. He waited for everyone to gather together again before pushing them to somewhere more private to discuss that.

" You're right Sana, he has nothing to do with Mark" He said.

" His name is Yoo Jeongyeon" He completed.

" Is this supposed to mean anything?" Mina asked curious.

" Yes, he is a Yoo, it means he is one of ours. His family always help around the community"

" What? So, he also has magic?" Sana asked with a surprised expression.

" Most probably... What troubles me is why he didn't contact anyone yet... Maybe he is afraid. Who wouldn't be?" The guy said.

They were interrupted by a police officer calling them.

" They are calling you so go. I'll talk with Yoo and figure it out" Sana's mother said to her husband.

" Girls, stay here and be careful" The guy completed leaving them to wait again. Sana and Mina nodded, there was nothing they could do.

" I'll be right back" Her mother said before heading out to the parking lot with hopes to find Jeongyeon still there.

The guy was sat inside his car staring at the steering wheel, everything happened so fast to him. It was like a bomb dropped right on his head.

She taped the car window and he slow and suspiciously let it down.

Sana's mother just wanted to help because she was that nice and, since she knows that his family also has magic, that was just another reason to talk with him.

" Hello" She greeted him.

" Hi" Jeongyeon said eyeing her serious.

" I'm here in the name of the Minatozaki family. We will be glad to help you through this, we know you didn't kill him" The woman said serious.

_' Weird'_ Jeongyeon thought, he was actually surprised.

" How do you know?" He asked.

It was her time to look at him suspicious. She really had the intention to answer him but she heard a sound coming from not so far and turned around to look. She noticed the presence of some suspicious guys following to her direction.

" Look, we can't talk now" She said and nervously opened her purse to take paper and pen.

" Meet me here. We trust you and your family" She handed him the paper with her address. Jeongyeon looked down curiously at the piece of paper and gazed up one more time, but the woman was nowhere to be seen, he looked around before tucking the paper in his pocket and hoping to forget that that mess was invading his peaceful life.

_' Am I going crazy?'_ Jeongyeon thought before leaving the place, if possible he is not going there again any time soon.

.

Sana's mother had to wait for everyone to be interrogate before leaving the police station the fastest they could. She was certain that they were being pursued more than before, her daughter was in danger. Sana was trying to take everything easy and Mina was as quiet as ever.

" Where are we going?" Sana asked suddenly. They were in the car waiting for the traffic to allow them to go forward.

" You two will go home. We have to fix something first" Sana's father said eyeing his wife.

" But-"

" For now, you're safer there and Mina will protect you" He completed.

" Ok" Sana mumbled looking out of the window, that moment she realized that the situation couldn't been easily taken anymore, she sensed that her life was about to change drastically.

.

Some not so exciting hours had passed, well, compared to the rest of the day of course. Jeongyeon was about to unlock the door of his apartment when it was scattered open by a worried Jackson.

" What happened? What they asked? Who killed the guy?" Jackson started bombarding him with questions.

" I didn't even enter my house yet" Jeongyeon said a bit annoyed, his patient was short limited.

" Right" Jackson allowed him to enter just in time for Jinyoung to appear on the living room.

Jeongyeon walked around a little, he let his shoulders drop and sighed, he found the one thing more stressful than work after all. The duo was eyeing him expectantly, he knew he couldn't just ignore both.

" Ok guys, tell me everything that you saw last night" Jeongyeon said.

The sun was starting to set, the darkness sipping into the room, they sat on the couch for the two to explain in details how Jeongyeon came in the apartment when they were watching TV the other night and how he looked like something sucked his soul out of his body, he didn't even greet both of them, just entered his room and passed out.

" Were my clothes stained of something?" Jeongyeon asked thinking.

" No, you were clean" Jinyoung said.

" It looked like you were hypnotized" Jackson said amused.

" Hypnosis isn't real" Jinyoung mocked him.

" It is!" Jackson defended his theory.

Jeongyeon just watched the discussion, he doesn't know what to believe anymore. Afraid was little to say from what he was feeling.

When the two calmed down, Jeongyeon started to talk his thoughts out.

" When the police come here, tell them everything, the whole truth you both" He said getting up and tucking his hands in his pockets.

" What about you?" Jinyoung asked.

" I have somewhere else to go" Jeongyeon said clenching the small paper in his hand and suddenly remembering the weird conversation of some random lady not too long ago.

He decided to follow his suspicious and after a while, he got in his car to go to that address. Jeongyeon tried to call his father to know more about it since the woman mentioned his family but got no response, the guy wasn't answering his phone. Jeongyeon eyed the address again and decided to go there first since it was closer, he can talk with his father later. Nonetheless, he isn't stupid to the point of trusting people he never heard about before, but he is human and sometimes curiosity can blind reasonable thoughts.

.

Sana was unconsciously cracking her fingers out of nervousness, she was sat down on the couch gazing worried to the clock while Mina packed her stuff to leave with Sana. The reason of her worry was mostly because of her parents, it had been two hours that they left without telling where they were going, the night seemed more dangerous after what happened. Mina was too busy while packing her stuff, she walked around the house since she lives with Sana's family for almost one year, they thought that was better to keep her close.

_' 9pm'_ Sana saw the clock turning the hour, she stared at the flashing numbers in front of her.

.

Jeongyeon was breathless when he found the place, he had to run from a mad dog and jump a fence because he knocked on the wrong door earlier. Maybe he wasn't that careful. Nevertheless, he was going to try again because he was determinate about it, mistakes could still be made.

Jeongyeon exhaled deeply before facing another doorstep.

_' Here goes nothing'_ He thought standing his hand up to ring the doorbell.

Sana jolted up from her spot when the so waited ring encountered her ears. She quickly got up to open the door.

" Finall-" She started to say but realized that it wasn't who she was waiting.

The second time Sana saw Jeongyeon was more unexpected and sooner than she thought, little she knew that he was going to be a big part of her life after that. He looked tired, it was no surprise, she was tired as well. Jeongyeon felt a nostalgic feeling taking over him when he looked Sana in the eyes, like he saw it before but can't point it out, her brown eyes shined so bright at him. Sana was with her mouth open ready to talk but ended up staring as well, leaving the situation a little awkward.

The guy was the first to break the stare and cleared his throat.

" Good night. I don't want to bother but someone gave me this address... Minatozaki I think" Jeongyeon said serious and hiding his embarrassment.

" Right..." Sana was able to say and flashed a warm smile. She was about to question who gave him the address but heard Mina's footsteps getting closer.

" Sana, are they here?" Mina asked opening the door entirely thinking that it was Sana's parents.

With that movement, Jeongyeon accidentally glanced the inside of the house and ended up seeing what he wasn't supposed too.

" Mister Yoo. Sorry but, what are you doing here?" Mina asked, of course she knew who he was, the girl passed most of her life training to be able to protect Sana so it was really easy for her to find out who the guy was but she wasn't expecting him there. Everything was starting to gather together.

Jeongyeon was froze on his spot still staring at the distance, his face turned pale as he saw what looked like a bag rested on the floor being organized by apparently an invisible force lifting and placing things. By the lack of response, both girls turned around to see what the guy was eyeing meanwhile, he gave a step back.

" What the..." Was all that left Jeongyeon's mouth.

" Oh, that, Mina casted a spell on the luggage to pack faster" Sana said like it was nothing. Jeongyeon even saw the bag closing itself and stepped backwards even more before almost tripping.

" Spell..." He said. Jeongyeon started rubbing his eyes to see better, it was like he was dreaming.

" Mister Yoo, are you ok?" Mina asked confused.

" What kind of trick was that?" He asked trying to maintain his calm.

" What trick? I told you she casted a spell" Sana said stating the obvious.

" Like magic?!" Jeongyeon asked bitterly.

" Obviously" Sana said giggling.

_' I'm losing my mind'_ Maybe he was.

" You're fucking kidding me. There is no such thing as magic" Jeongyeon said a little too desperate at the two, although, he can't deny what he saw. The situation escalated quickly.

Mina faced Sana and the latter did the same, they exchanged looks like talking with each other after realizing that the guy was serious about that. Sana sighed and Mina shook her head, the only thing passing their minds was how they were going to explain to a freaked out Jeongyeon that yes magic is real and that he is supposedly involved deeply into all of it.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi.


	3. Peculiar

For crazier that it sounds, it was happening.

Jeongyeon sighed. The idea of reality being changed like that was hardly accepted as a good thing. He could force himself to believe what his eyes were seeing but his brain would crash if he thought about how things would be affected. Jeongyeon looked serious at the girls, like a huge mood swing compared with the surprised state from before, weird things were happening to him and accepting what he just saw would be how the last piece of sanity left him. And still, he looked down staring blankly at the floor.

" Are you ok?" Sana asked waving her hands in front of him. Jeongyeon seemed startled and gave another step back, like he was ready to run from there, his breath started getting faster. Mina facepalmed, she understood that she had to take some drastic measures. Like her last resource because she really didn't had a like to using it, she snapped her fingers like a casual method but where they were and with the things they know, a casual method could mean a powerful thing. Jeongyeon looked at her and was caught by her eyes, he really didn't expect more craziness to come in. Mina intensely stared, he surprisingly relaxed making his concerns disappear, Jeongyeon was starting to be drawn by a powerful force and for a moment he would do anything she asked, the world started to fade around Mina like she was the only thing that matters, the girl shook her head, Jeongyeon nodded.

" Get in" Mina commanded. Jeongyeon didn't hesitate to get into the house like she said, his thoughts were foggy. Sana let him sit on the couch and signaled Mina to let him free. Mina snapped her fingers one more time and the force pushing him to accept her commands faded.

Jeongyeon blinked several times before realizing what he just did.

" What the hell did you do to me?" He asked holding his head that was getting tired.

" Mina can be very convincing when she wants to" Sana said. Jeongyeon shook his head and faced her.

" And what the fuck is happening here? " Jeongyeon said raising his voice.

" Calm down" Mina said.

" How? Do you expect me to believe this magic stuff? Like some Harry Potter shit? "

" No. We don't have magic wands and dragons... Although it would be really cool" Sana said and that didn't help much.

" What? "

" Look we're not the enemy here, we are trying to figure out as much as you do, we know you didn't commit any crime" Mina said with her soft voice trying to calm him down.

" I heard that before but how do you know I didn't do it? "

" We-"

" And don't tell me that it's a magic thing"

" It's not... Well, sort of" Sana said smiling. Jeongyeon looked confused at her.

" We just know and besides, we found evidence in the crime scene that proves it" Mina said.

" And the police still think it was me"

" They don't know what we know" Sana said.

" Right... Wait... Why am I telling you this? " Jeongyeon said getting up.

" Honestly, we are the ones that can't trust you or should not trust you. You're a Yoo that doesn't know about magic" Mina said narrowing her eyes at him.

" Do my family knows about it? What the fuck? "

" Yes, they do" Mina said.

Jeongyeon looked down thinking, he had no reason to not believe them but it was frightening to discover a new world. The existence of magic or whatever was happening couldn't be welcomed like that. He felt like his life was a lie.

" Why I don't remember the night of the murder? " He asked, realizing.

" Uhm... They probably did a spell on you to forget and hypnotized you with something to get out of there" Sana said.

 _' This doesn't make any sense. They are all crazy'_ He thought.

" I need to go now" Jeongyeon said, he was about to turn around to leave when Sana's phone started to ring getting everyone's attention.

Sana saw her mother's number on the screen and didn't hesitate to answer, she put on speaker for Mina to hear as well, Jeongyeon just stood near the door.

**_*" SANA, YOU'RE NOT SAFE. THEY ARE GOING-"*_ **

A piercing noise of wheels burning the asphalt followed by metal crashing came from the call, Sana started shaking.

" Mom! Mom! " Sana screamed, Mina gulped down, it sounded like a car crash.

The sound of an explosion called the call off. Sana blinked the tears out of her eyes.

" It can't be" She breathed out.

Mina focused more in what was said by Sana's mother.

" We have to go" Mina said to Sana that fell on her knees. Jeongyeon stepped back to give them some space.

" Sana, we have to leave now" Mina kneeled in front of her and cleaned her tears.

" Are t-they de-ad?" Sana asked looking down.

" I don't know" Mina answered.

Jeongyeon leaned his frame on the door and looked down, other people were probably killed, he doesn't understand. He could hear the sound of a car horning and stopping abruptly near the house, since a window was close, he looked through it and notice about three guys approaching the place, what surprised him was the sight of the guns that the guys were holding, one of them pointed it to the house.

" Hey, GET DOWN" Jeongyeon screamed to Mina and stepped away from the window.

The bullets teared the glass of the window while Jeongyeon covered himself, the cozy room quickly turned into a mess of broken furniture and shattered objects. Sana curled against Mina that was trying to find an escape route.

" RUN" Jeongyeon screamed when he saw a grenade rolling through the floor, he did a smart movement he didn't know he had the capacity to do, he rolled quickly to the floor to get in the other side of the room, landing behind the couch and near the girls.

Their ears buzzed when the explosion destroyed the surroundings even more, Jeongyeon was protecting his head expecting to get hurt but felt nothing, he looked around, they were surprisingly unharmed, like an invisible force shielded them, the pieces of metal from the explosion landed everywhere around them but stopped right before hitting, the pieces floated in the air for a moment before falling down like nothing. Jeongyeon blinked several times and scanned around just to see Sana passed out in Mina's arms, they were still on the floor.

He saw a potential escape route and wanted to run but, Mina held his arm just in time, the gunshots could still be seen passing the windows.

" Let's go" Mina screamed the loudest she could.

" You go! I don't want to be involved in this, I have my own problems to take care of" Jeongyeon said serious. Mina wanted to smack him in the head.

" I can't leave without her. Help me, I can't get in my car alone" Mina said showing Sana resting unconscious in her arms. Jeongyeon stared at the unconscious girl, Sana's head rested on Mina's shoulder, the older girl looked so peaceful that he could fell a grip on his heart telling him to not to leave her.

" Urgh, fine. I'll help you" He said and noticed that the gunshots stopped.

" It's now or never" Mina said trying her best to lift Sana away from there.

They ran to the backdoor of the house, hearing the front door being scattered as Jeongyeon closed the backdoor just in time. Mina tossed him the keys of her car and they ran to it, he unlocked the door and Sana was placed on the backseat along with Mina, Jeongyeon maintained his posture and sprinted out of there the fastest he could.

 >>>>>>

The streets were clear, it was around ten pm already, he doesn't know how much time he took to trick the cars following them. At that moment, they were stopped waiting for a traffic light to turn green and Jeongyeon had an idea, he needed to clarify things. He looked at the rear-view mirror and saw Mina wake and checking her phone while Sana was still sleeping, until that moment, the plan was to get the two girls out of town.

" Do you mind if I go somewhere first? " Jeongyeon broke the silence.

" Ok but don't take long" Mina said serious.

Jeongyeon nodded and turned the car to another route. He grabbed his phone and dialed his father to warn that he was going. He was getting concerned after trying calling five more times and clenched the steering wheel, adding with the times he called before it would be the twentieth time he called his father just that day.

.

About fifteen minutes later, Sana started to regain her consciousness and blink slowly, she rubbed her eyes understanding the environment.

" Where are we going?" Sana mumbled to Mina. The other girl looked up from her phone relieved.

" For now, he is taking us to somewhere else but we're going out of town. Sorry but I can't contact anyone" Mina answered her with a worried expression. She tried several times to call someone they know to help but no response, she had an idea but everything was falling apart so fast.

" We are here" Jeongyeon interrupted, parking the car in front of his father's house, he noticed how the lights were all turned off.

" I'm going to talk with my father to clarify this mess" He said opening the door.

" We're going too" Sana said also getting out of the car, Mina tried to stop her because the girl was passed out a minute before but she wasn't able to. Jeongyeon faced both.

" Fine, you two can go with me" He said not caring much. Getting closer to the doorstep, he was about to knock when the door slowly opened.

" Shh" He warned both of the girls and quietly opened the door. They stepped carefully around the house, afraid that it was invaded, it all seemed clear but so quiet, the dead silence buzzing in their ears, only the sound of their footsteps being amplified.

Stepping through the first floor, Mina was the first to find the body, she opened the door of the main room and there it was, an old guy surrounded by blood, Sana came closer followed by Jeongyeon, he looked away immediately when he saw the body, it was his father, with his eyes still open and a bullet wound across his chest.

" I'm sorry" Sana said patting his shoulder, Jeongyeon shrugged her hand off and gazed with an angry look, Mina grabbed Sana's arm and pulled her closer after seeing that. The guy clenched his fist and bit his lip to stop his tears from falling, he walked closer to the body and closed his father's eyes. The anger was consuming his insides, he suddenly gave a punch on the floor to release what was building up. Sana was startled for a moment but she got it, she understands what it is to lose someone so close since she doesn't know the fate of her own parents.

" Look, there is something in his hand" Mina said looking closer. Jeongyeon followed her gaze and indeed saw that a piece of paper was clenched between his father's fingers, he carefully unwrapped it to give a look at it.

 _' Second drawer'_ Was written with shaky and almost unreadable letters.

" What second drawer? " Sana asked looking at the paper in Jeongyeon's hands curiously.

" Doesn't matter" Jeongyeon said and got up.

" He probably wrote this before getting shot" Mina said being the observant one, she was near the furniture beside the bed where a piece of ripped paper lied down and it matched the one in the guy's hand, she tried to open the second drawer of there but it was empty.

" It's not that one, he keeps a drawer of his wardrobe closed. I know where the key is" Jeongyeon said coldly, his eyes still showed a bit of anger. He passed Mina and moved the furniture to find a key hidden on the wall behind it.

" No one knew about this except the two of us" Jeongyeon said showing the key. He got closer to the wardrobe and found the second drawer.

" Woah, can you see it? " Sana asked looking impressed at the drawer, Jeongyeon didn't even open yet.

" See what? " He asked.

Mina and Sana gave a look to each other, that really meant that Jeongyeon doesn't had any magical properties since he isn't able to see what they were seeing.

" Sometimes we mark places with our magic, it's a way of protection or to hide things from those who aren't like us" Mina explained.

" Right there" Sana pointed at right beside the locker of the drawer.

" It's some sort of protection spell I think, and it looks really complicated" Sana completed tracing her small fingers around the mark.

" Yeah, it's really well designed, to keep intruders away I think " Mina explained.

Jeongyeon couldn't see what they were seeing, he saw just a normal drawer while both of the girls could see a shining green magic circle covering a part of the surface. Nonetheless, he was able to unlock it and scan the inside. He first took out a black briefcase and settled down, above it, rested a yellow envelope that he also checked, a bunch of papers were inside the envelope but he preferred to check that later, that moment he was more curious about the briefcase.

 _' A combination'_ He thought lifting it up. Jeongyeon put the first numbers that came in his head, his birth date and it opened right away. He placed down again, the girls looked expectantly at it as well.

Jeongyeon didn't want to waste time and opened it, he got impressed with the amount of money inside of that briefcase. It didn't even cross his mind that his father had such a thing hidden because he can tell that it wasn't there before but, what can he say, his father practically lied to him his entire life.

" Let's go" Jeongyeon said serious. He could sense the death atmosphere suffocating in that room so he placed the envelope inside the briefcase and closed it before walking away from there. Both Mina and Sana looked worried at each other, they weren't still sure that they could trust him but it was understandable that now they were together in that situation, so they followed him to the car. Sana wanted to talk with him, but she stopped herself from doing it since she doesn't know him that well, although the hurt in his eyes were starting to concern her and that moment she couldn't explain why she felt like that, like she was being drawn to him, they only know each other for some hours, he could be a psychopath or leave them there to die. They walked to inside of the car again, Sana was starting to hardly think about things and accidently hit her head on the top of the car when she tried to get in, Mina was already inside and just heard the noise, Jeongyeon was looking around the place to make sure they weren't being followed but immediately looked at Sana while she rubbed her head, they stared at each other but said nothing, he just don't understand her, she seemed so different but normal at the same time, the kind of girl that you can't tell that it's hiding a big secret or even trying to hide something, but he senses this thing around Sana that was trying to tell everything he should know and that was enough for now.

Sana gulped down and broke the stare to get inside of the car, Jeongyeon just shook his head and entered the car to hopefully go far away from there.

.

.

.

Tension was present in the air, uncertainty about the future. Mina was reviewing the whole thing through her head for the tenth time while Sana was distantly looking outside the window, trying not to fall asleep.

" You know, I could just leave you two and go" Jeongyeon suddenly said.

" I see no advantage in this we're doing now" He completed, glancing both girl through the rear-view mirror to see their reaction. Sana narrowed her eyes at him, that made him look away.

" But you two seen to have information" Jeongyeon said.

" We also don't need you" Sana mumbled for only Mina to hear, she even mimicked him, mocking. Jeongyeon heard and raised his eyebrow.

" You wouldn't just let two innocent girls to die, right? " Sana asked a little too dramatically. Mina shook her head and smiled a bit to herself because Sana was just childish sometimes even when things were bad.

" Believe me when I say that depending the circumstances, yes I would let you to die. You don't know me and I barely know you so it doesn't matter" Jeongyeon said taking it serious, but even with that kind of thought, he was still helping them. Sana just yelped and gazed her friend.

 _' What we just got ourselves into?'_ Sana asked herself.

" But... My father died for this and someone has to pay for it" Jeongyeon said clenching the steering wheel and going faster on the free road. It was starting to get foggy around there.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #LIKEY


	4. Hurry

 

Roaming past empty streets made him think a lot about things.

The morning came fast, the roads were starting to fill while Jeongyeon passed through them, dark circles around his eyes, he didn't sleep a bit that night. Of course, he had to drive but Mina even offered to do it in his place, he simply refused, sleeping was not going to get them anywhere. With that, other town was reached, it wasn't too far but it took the whole night to get there, now he just had to wake the two sleeping girls on the backseat.

He parked the car in some empty parking lot and rested his head on his seat. The rear-view mirror was surprisingly adjusted at Sana's face and for a moment he couldn't help but stare, her bangs were spread on her forehead a slightly getting above her eyes, she was leaning against the window where her breath eventually left a soft mark, it looked calm and ordinary, something he realized the girl isn't.

 _'What are you in all of this? '_ He thought, sighing and looking away. Jeongyeon had more questions than answers and once they settle down he was going to get some explanations.

Since the car was off, he opened his door to let the morning breeze get in a little, the air was heavy, he hung his head low and rested a bit while the sun rays spread through his frame, it was another fine day he knew it couldn't be enjoyed. Honestly, Jeongyeon didn't expect his stomach to growl loudly that hour, they hadn't eaten a thing earlier and he just started to remember that. He turned around to try to wake them up.

 _' How can anyone sleep in the car like that? '_ He thought, turning around and glaring at the duo.

" You two, wake up" Jeongyeon said shaking both of their shoulders lightly, Mina quickly grabbed his hand before he could do it again and narrowed her eyes at him.

" We are here" Jeongyeon said freeing himself of her grip.

" And we need to eat before going wherever we're going" He said taking his attention elsewhere. Mina hummed and watched while the guy opened the briefcase by his side and took some money.

" Let's buy some stuff to eat" He said about to exit the car, that moment Sana was still incredibly fast asleep.

" Stay, I will go" Mina said stopping him.

" Why? I can go, it's fine" Jeongyeon said.

" We don't know if we're being followed, right? So being alone isn't an option"

" And what makes you want to go alone?"

" I know martial arts" Mina said crossing her arms.

" And? I also can throw a really good punch" Jeongyeon said snapping his wrists. She was starting to dislike him.

" Just stay with her ok? I need to go to the bathroom" Mina said sighing, he finally gave up and handled her the money since she insisted, Mina could be stubborn when she wanted and he is starting to think that she is not in a good mood.

Once Mina disappeared from his sight, Jeongyeon started to tap his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, it was kind of cold. Sana started to wake up, blinking open her eyes. She yawned and stretched her arms before looking around.

" Where's Mina?" She asked rubbing her eyes.

" Went to buy some food" Jeongyeon answered still taping the steering wheel.

" Thank God" Sana gasped relieved since all she could think was food at that moment. She checked the surroundings and didn't recognize the place, she nodded with herself thinking that her new life would be full of new places. After a while, they were silent, Sana was too busy trying to fix her hair, she wasn't talking so it was weird because Jeongyeon quickly learned from his brief time with them that Sana really enjoyed her own voice. Jeongyeon decided to let that go since she was finally quiet and he looked attentively at the envelope inside of the open briefcase, he was reluctant to know what those files said. Little by little, his attention unconsciously turned to the girl in the backseat again, Sana was looking uninterested out of the window.

" Why are they after you?" Jeongyeon broke the silence, he realized that he doesn't know much about her.

" Maybe they think I'm cute" Sana said smiling, again, Jeongyeon just didn't understand her.

" Kidding" She completed.

"Sana, right? I have no time for jokes so I just want to understand why this is happening" Jeongyeon said looking down sadly. Sana nodded.

"Minatozaki Sana, nice to meet you" Sana said with a bright smile and standing her hand.

" Yoo Jeongyeon" He said and shook her hand.

" Ok, Jeongyeon" His name rolled out of her lips.

"Think with me a little, even though it's still morning" She mumbled the last words.

"Magic is real but we can't use much, we have laws you know. This is a world where we have powers but can't use them properly, it has something to do with balance, I don't understand for sure either" Sana said taping her chin.

" So, what's my part in all of this?" Jeongyeon said, he was starting to get sad and the confusion wasn't helping.

" We have a record of the families with magic properties in our community. According to my father, you're one of them"

"... But you don't have magic. Don't worry about it, it's odd but it's fine... I think" Sana said nodding her head.

" And you?" He asked. Sana hummed, she looked far away and saw Mina getting closer to them with bags in her hands.

" My powers are wider than the others. It's rare but happens, it also has a lot of consequences and that's one of the reason why we're being pursued" Sana said hoping to clarify things, she can only imagine how Jeongyeon must be feeling.

" So, what can you do?" He asked arching one of his eyebrows.

" I think I passed out earlier, right? I have to make some efforts to use it" Sana explained.

Mina walked closer and entered the car, Sana clapped her hands with the sight and smell of food filling the air.

" You stopped the explosion" Jeongyeon mumbled remembering.

" Actually, I just stopped us from being harmed but, I also closed the front door, grabbed Mina's keys, and opened the backdoor before moving the furniture to cover the window for us to run, that's why I passed out" Sana said not making much of it but still, Jeongyeon widened his eyes.

" I'm not stupid you know" She said giggling. Perhaps her brain is just slow.

" How?"

" With my mind" Sana said taping her temple.

" And what about her?" Jeongyeon asked referring to Mina, that was sitting beside Sana.

" She is my best friend" Sana said starting to eat.

" Myoui Mina, and I'm also her body guard, sort of" Mina completed.

" Right" Jeongyeon said more clarified, although, he doesn't see how all of that has to do with him being with them after all, he still had nothing to do with that. He just looked away thinking.

" And who are we running from? And what's the other reason we're running from them? " He asked the biggest inquires in his mind. Mina put her food aside and thought about it, she realized that she could at least answer that for him.

" It all began when they started to suggest that everyone must know about magic, it was crazy, we can't let this happen. And then they discovered about Sana and now they want to steal her power, it's complicated" Mina said reasonably, she has a sweet and calm voice but Jeongyeon can tell that she is worried or mad about the situation. He hummed.

" Ok, but who? " He asked. Sana gave a look at Mina, that nodded in response.

" Yugyeom, BamBam and JB, they are commanding everything" Sana answered.

" And you know all of them? "

" Everybody knows who they are, they usually scare people" Sana said.

Jeongyeon nodded, he looked in front of him and adjusted his seatbelt.

" You're not eating?" Sana asked him.

" Not hungry" He said turning the engine on, his stomach was growling but he didn't want to eat.

" Where to now?"

" I know a place we can go" Mina said for their relief.

The sound of the wheels sprinting out of the place was all they heard, it was a calm and peaceful town, Mina expect to find her friend and ask for help along with Sana while Jeongyeon is lost, helplessly think what he is going to do with his life after that, so much changed and so fast that his thoughts couldn't come up with the idea of having nowhere to go after.

.

The police were still looking for Jeongyeon, and with the incident in Sana's house, he was only being played guilty more and more on the detective's eyes. The truth started to be distant from the theories in their minds, especially the police. Bigger lies were starting to be told. The murder weapon was never found and the chase just began to them, kidnapping was being considered and that was just one more thing that the police was blaming Jeongyeon for, little did they know that the guy was just another victim.

.

.

.

" Hey, Mina" Sana said softly, the tiredness was starting to get to her again, mentally. Mina hummed creasing her eyebrows, breaking her gaze from the not so interesting car window.

" My parents?" Sana asked. Mina shook her head.

" They covered up the accident, it was like it never happened, I looked everywhere" Mina said pointing at her cellphone.

" But they can still be alive, right?"

" Right" Mina said not so sure about it.

Jeongyeon was listening attentively their talk, he glanced the rear-view mirror and saw Sana turning her head to look at road, she looked so sad and broken just like him. He bit his lip to be able to look away, Sana still had that aura that made him wonder a lot about her and it wasn't helping since he understands that he has to leave her sometime.

The directions were precisely given by Mina to her friend's house, they were probably getting there before some more minutes of driving, the atmosphere was so silent, Sana even asked for Jeongyeon to turn some music on in the middle of the way to ease the tension.

Until he received a call.

Jeongyeon slowed the speed of the car and rapidly grabbed his phone when he saw who was calling.

" Jackson?" He asked.

 ** _*" Jeong? Where are you man?! Something terrible happened!"*_** Jackson said with a hint of desperation.

" What happened?!"

 ** _*" Some tough guys showed on our doorstep and beat the hell out of Jinyoung! He is really bad right now!" *_** Jackson said almost shouting.

 _' Shit'_ Jeongyeon thought grinning his teeth in anger.

" Did they say anything?"

 ** _*" I don't know, I came home and found Jinyoung bleeding to death, he was the one who told me about the guys"*_** Jackson said exhaling deeply.

" They will pay for it" Jeongyeon said gripping the steering wheel tightly.

**_*" The police is here saying that you killed that dude! A-and-"*_ **

" Calm down Jackson. Tell them everything and that I killed no one. Just do me the favor to ask them for protection" Jeongyeon said.

**_*" I-I believe you" *_ **

" Do they know that you're calling me?"

**_*" No"*_ **

" Ok, don't tell them"

**_*" Ok"*_ **

" Stay out of trouble and if the tough guys ever search for you, call the police immediately. I'll be fine" Jeongyeon said and hang up, he was getting pissed and it was starting to consume him. He was never an angry person before but he surely lacks patience and everything was just so confusing that he wanted to shout. It was like walls closing around him and suffocating his lungs.

 >>>>>>

Eventually, they got into some dark street in the shady side of the town, Jeongyeon was surprised that a girl like Mina had friends in those areas, but well, he barely knows the girl. The fuel of the car was starting to end, the place would be their final destination because of that. Jeongyeon parked the car hidden at some corner, he is still aware that they can be followed and how he almost knows why they're in that situation.

Mina knocked on the door three times before it was open, a guy with dark circles around his eyes looked lazily at them with a confused expression, his dark brown hair messy, he was in his pajamas.

" Chaeyoung" Mina said, he looked up at her and rubbed his eyes.

" Mina?" Chaeyoung said enthusiastic. He jumped and hugged her, Mina just stood there smiling.

The other two were standing there awkwardly behind the scene, Jeongyeon gave a questioning look at Sana that shrugged her shoulders, she also had no idea who that was.

" What are you doing here?" Chaeyoung said sounding more alive than before.

" And with friends" He said looking at the confused duo behind Mina.

" Hello, I'm Chaeyoung" He said happily and giving them a warm smile, he certainly forgot what he was wearing.

" Jeongyeon" The guy greeted a little unsure.

" Sana" She said matching the smaller guy with a happy expression.

" So, you're Sana. I heard about you" Chaeyoung said.

" Really?" Sana said because she never heard a thing about the existence of that guy.

" Come in you all" Chaeyoung said letting them inside his house.

" Sorry the mess, I was working" He said kicking a pair of shoes of their way.

" It's fine" Mina said sitting on the couch.

" So, after all this time... What brings Myoui Mina to my humble house?" Chaeyoung asked narrowing his eyes at them.

" We need help Chaeng, someone is after us" Mina said almost pouting.

" The police or something?" He asked.

" No, worse"

" I see" Chaeyoung said taping his chin.

" I think the police is also after us" Jeongyeon said interrupting.

" Right..." Mina contemplated.

Sana was quietly looking at the floor, she was with her head down and staring. Jeongyeon noticed that.

" Mina's friends are also my friends so, what do you need my help with?" Chaeyoung asked clasping his hand and smiling at them.

" Just let us stay here for a while please, we won't stay long" Mina said staring at him with puppy eyes.

" Alright. Even if I didn't let you stay, you were probably going to use your witchcraft in me anyways" Chaeyoung said. That made Sana look up to him.

 _' He knows'_ Sana thought. Mina quietly smiled, she knows that Sana must be confused.

" How do you know each other?" Sana slowly asked.

" Oh, we did school together. Mina saved my life once, we became friends but she disappeared right after" Chaeyoung answered walking around.

" She used her almighty powers to save me from a beating, it was really cool" Chaeyoung completed getting a sudden flashback in his mind.

Mina hummed.

" And, not to be rude but who is he? Your boyfriend?" Chaeyoung asked smirking and pointing at Jeongyeon.

" No"

" No"

Jeongyeon and Mina said at the same time. Chaeyoung then looked at Sana, she shook her head.

" That's it?" Chaeyoung asked to Mina.

" Pretty much, yes"

"You know I can help with more than that"

" I know but I don't think it's necessary" Mina said to him, remarking the abilities of the guy.

" Not wanting to brag about it but I'm really good with making people disappear" Chaeyoung said proudly.

" What?" Jeongyeon said gazing the guy with confusion.

" That didn't sound right... Not really disappear just... Disappear you know? " Chaeyoung tried to explain.

" Not really" Jeongyeon said.

" Come here, I'll show you" Chaeyoung said walking away to open the door to a room, Mina knew what the guy was referring but it was hard to explain.

They entered a small and cold room, some paintings could be seen on the walls near some desks and there stood about three laptops and an expensive looking computer, all with the screen on.

" Welcome to my office" Chaeyoung said and started spinning on his office chair.

Sana and Jeongyeon were surprised by the situation.

" Hope you feel comfortable" Chaeyoung said smiling and showing his dimple.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about any errors...


	5. Limits

Nothing can surprise him anymore, Jeongyeon let a heavy sigh escape his lips.

They fell in silence, only the buzzing sound of the air conditioner called attention. Sana was impressed with everything she was seeing inside the room, Chaeyoung's unusual office, he had all this equipment prepared like he wanted to hack NASA. Not that he didn't try. The smaller guy was still happily staring at them while Jeongyeon scanned around, the latter must admit he was curious.  
" What do you think?" Chaeyoung asked to the other guy although they don't even know each other, no one really knows each other in that room for what Sana can tell since her own best friend kept the existence of that person hidden.  
" I think it's good" Jeongyeon mumbled analyzing some of the paintings around the place.  
Sana stood beside Mina and flashed her a look that said she wanted to talk in private, the other girl nodded understanding, she must be stressed with all of that, they all were.  
After giving one more spin with his chair, Chaeyoung approached Jeongyeon as the girls left the room. It wasn't that awkward, they clicked very well together, so the two guys ended up talking for some time to know each other and mostly about meaningless things or how Jeongyeon was able to get into that unlucky mess. Time was gradually passing faster.  
" I painted this myself" Chaeyoung said pointing at some painting, but not trying to brag, he looked uninterest at it and was just stating a fact.  
" Nice" Jeongyeon said.  
" Yeah, I'm a painter, programmer, music writer, hacker and photographer but just when I have free time" Chaeyoung said excitedly. Jeongyeon realized how joyful the guy is and took a mental note about that since he senses that they may stay a while around him. Chaeyoung wasn't bad at least, Jeongyeon was slowly enjoying his company, in fact, it made him remind his roommates a little, his friends are really good but always fighting and Chaeyoung was a welcoming guy, Jeongyeon was almost trying to forget his problems, almost. He still looked down for a while and clenched his fist, that wasn't the right time to make new friends for him.  
" Are you ok?" Chaeyoung asked seeing that Jeongyeon seemed sad.  
" It's fine"

Chaeyoung hummed and thought a bit.  
" I think I know what you need" Chaeyoung exclaimed eyeing him.  
" You do?" Jeongyeon asked increasing his eyebrows.  
" Come with me"  
Jeongyeon had nothing to lose anyways and followed the other, they passed the girls that were chatting in the living room, Mina was just explaining how she meet Chaeyoung and why Sana didn't meet him before. Both guys passed by them and started descending some stairs, it was getting darker by the steps they gave making Jeongyeon almost trip onto something.  
" Being pursued can make you stressed, believe me I know" Chaeyoung said when they stopped before a metal door, it looked like an upgraded basement. Jeongyeon didn't doubt the guy since his line of work seemed complicated.  
The smaller guy clicked open the door to reveal an area filled with training equipment and some high technology to fill the spaces.  
" I forgot to mention that I'm also secretly rich" Chaeyoung simply said getting into the room and turning all the lights on.  
" I often come here when I want to hit something or when I have time to work out" Chaeyoung said walking around and showing the place, he stopped right beside a punching bag.  
" You can stay as long as you want, I'll be upstairs finishing my work" Chaeyoung said pushing the punching bag lightly.  
" Thank you" Jeongyeon said serious and gazing around.  
" No problem" Chaeyoung said leaving the room.  
The room had these bright lights that made things seem cleaner or nicer to look, it makes Jeongyeon feel small around all that equipment. He stretched his arms and found some gloves to start punching something, he really wanted to get tired to be able to get some sleep since it had been a while, his head was starting to get dizzy. He stretched his wrists and started to throw light punches, soon it became more heavy punches and he started to sweat, realizing that maybe Chaeyoung was right and that was all he needed when he got the pace of the thing. Jeongyeon's thoughts started to drift around the last days, and more he punched the frustrations out. But there was an unusual feeling deep down in his chest, he was sure that regret would be what his heart would be full because for no reason he lost his life but, one little thing was reassuring him that it maybe it wasn't a mistake to take that path and maybe something good was coming from all of that. A sensation was making him not regret that much, his life before was quiet and calm but he couldn't say that it was happy. He barely knows that he was starting to change, after all, who would remain the same knowing what he knows and being hopeless in the world of magic.  
Jeongyeon eventually got tired and laid down on the cold floor, he pushed his hair up because he was sweating so much, his breath was still unstable when someone suddenly opened the door slowly.  
Sana almost tripped on her own feet when she walked in, she saw him sitting up from the floor to drink from a bottle of water, the guy was in a situation that she could see clearly the lines of his muscles, she looked away trying to shrug her thoughts off because she really thinks that Jeongyeon is a handsome guy, he is just annoying sometimes.  
" What?" He asked placing down the bottle down, still sat on the floor.  
" It's been about an hour you're here" Sana preferred to warn him.  
" Really?" He said, it felt like some minutes to him not a whole hour.  
" We're going to eat now" Sana said looking around.  
" So?" Jeongyeon said getting up, he picked up his discarded things from earlier.  
"..."  
Jeongyeon walked closer to her, Sana stared at him a little confused, he stood in front of her not minding her presence too much but he was close and now she could see how his hair was messy in a funny way although it somehow made him pretty. Jeongyeon reached for something behind her and she realized that she was standing right in front of where the gloves were stored.  
" Sorry" She mumbled, slipping out of his way.  
Jeongyeon proceeded to take the gloves off but winced when he took the first one, a clear and big wound appeared on his knuckles.  
" Your hand" Sana gasped by how damaged it looked, she recklessly stepped closer one more time.  
He didn't want to show how it hurt so started to take the other glove off.  
" It's nothing" Jeongyeon said gulping down the urge to show a painful expression.  
" It looks like something. Here, give me your hand" Sana said standing her own. Jeongyeon frowned at her.

" Why? " He asked.  
" Why not? Let me try something at least" Sana insisted. He let her since she wouldn't do more harm probably.  
Sana carefully enveloped her two small hands around his hurt one and closed her eyes to focus. Jeongyeon could clear see her features from close, she was calm, he had never been that closer to her before and noticed how Sana was attractive when she wasn't being loud and annoying to him. She was saying some confuse words slowly and suddenly Jeongyeon felt his pain going away. It took a few seconds for him to come up that Sana used her precious magic to heal him, she ended it and took one of her hands to see if it worked and it did, his hand looked unharmed. Sana gave a warm smile and started to jump excitedly seeing the success, Jeongyeon had to hold a chuckle that threatened to leave his throat. Until she looked up at him and found Jeongyeon also looking at her. Their eyes locked and it was like the first time they met each other again, Jeongyeon could only hear his heartbeat increasing against his eardrums when Sana tilted her head to the side with some sort of amused look, her bangs slightly getting in front of her face, Jeongyeon wanted to reach for it and slowly take it out of her eyes, he wanted to look at them without any obstacle but stopped, that could be dangerous, her eyes were vivid and he also didn't want to fall in the danger that Sana seemed to be so, he contained himself. As for her, words failed, no sound left her mouth and that rarely happened, she liked to talk so she was always expressing her thoughts, but that moment took them away for a while, like slow motion but it happened really fast. Sana suddenly realized she was still holding his hand and lowered her head before letting it go.  
" Sorry" Sana mumbled. She usually doesn't feel embarrassed but the situation was just too much for her, she had to feel embarrassed.  
" It's ok" Jeongyeon mumbled as well.  
" My hand is ok now" He said and walked away leaving her staring at the ground, Sana didn't know that it was his way of saying thanks.  
>>>>>>  
The feeling of confusion was still there, after all, a lot of things were to be explained mostly to Jeongyeon, for a while he had to admit that he isn't sure about what is driving him to help the two girls because it was all craziness if he could tell. The best solution he found was to rest and take care of what he could for the time being, so after Sana called him to go eat earlier, he did that and crashed to sleep. His not so long hours of sleep were suddenly interrupted for no other than himself. Well, not specifically him but his incredibly lucid dreams which showed that he was the one being killed by shots the night his life changed, however it was still all in his mind, perhaps he was starting to remember some aspects of that night, it was blurry. Jeongyeon got up from the bed tiredly, expecting to stretch his muscle a bit after some other problem started again. Pressured, something inside of him was starting to ache, reaching through his bones to tell him that the struggle was far to be over, and maybe, that was actually his super power because he can't remember being wrong about it when he senses trouble.  
The living room wasn't silence and he didn't expect to be, he lived long enough with Jackson and Jinyoung to be used with noises. The clock was just turning to midnight, Jeongyeon was greeted by the ones there and silently passed them to sit and join the talk, he had to be aware though.  
About the others, Sana and Chaeyoung were getting along really well, they talked a lot and mostly about how much the guy knew about the whole magic stuff. They were the ones sat on the couch and talking like normal people.  
Mina watched from afar while thinking about what they would do next, Jeongyeon sat near her, her eyes fixed on her cellphone.

The contrast of behavior between Sana and Mina was clear for Jeongyeon, he almost didn't hear Mina's voice while Sana he is sure that the sound will haunt him for some time. Mina seemed more mature and maybe he preferred like that, there wasn't much to worry about her, for Sana he couldn't say the same because it was hard to deal with her, although, he enjoys how happy she is, it brings an indescribable glow to the place.

When Sana let a louder laugh Jeongyeon got out of his thoughts and tried to push them away, it wasn't time for that.

Mina was frowning still looking at the cellphone, all the information she gathered about the car accident of Sana's parents was a dead end and she had no answers to give to her friend. Chaeyoung called her attention.

" Mina, you didn't tell me who is looking for you guys" Chaeyoung said, Jeongyeon turned his head to them also waiting for an answer because he didn't know much about it.  
" I can explain" Sana said raising her hand slowly.  
" So, some people are becoming weaker when it comes to magic and they think it's my fault. Three of them gathered a group together to haunt me down and simply steal or extinguish my powers" Sana said lowering her head. Mina thought it was her time to speak because she believes that isn't the other girl's fault.  
" They have help from a lot of people too, mostly other families. Everyone is scared so we don't blame them" Mina explained.  
" But it's not up to them or to us to judge people for what they can't change about themselves" Mina said making sure that Sana listened.  
" I see... And about the police..." Chaeyoung said.  
" That part we don't really know. They are after him looking for Mark's murderer" Sana said referring to Jeongyeon.  
" I didn't do anything though" Jeongyeon said crossing his arms.  
" The other people are just looking for more power and scaring others to do so" Sana responded sadly.  
" You'll be fine" Jeongyeon said and he doesn't know where that came from.  
" Thank you" Sana said smiling, it was impressive how she could change the mood so quickly. Jeongyeon had to look away to not to smile as well.  
Chaeyoung interrupted the moment by clearing his throat and getting up.  
" Well, let's sleep and later we can talk more about how we're going to beat those guys" Chaeyoung said stretching his back and arms looking like he was going to pick a fight.  
" It's just... How can I say?... We don't have any clothes here so..." Sana said scratching her head thinking.  
" Oooh, that is a problem" Chaeyoung said also thinking.  
" Go to sleep and we can all buy something later" Jeongyeon rapidly ended the worry.  
.  
.  
.  
A sweet buzzing sound coming out of nowhere encountered Sana's ears, the night was just in the middle, the ceiling she was staring looked so clean and white that hurt her eyes even in the darkness of the room, she looked at Mina sleeping by her side on the bed because Chaeyoung only had two other bedrooms. Sana couldn't sleep, she tied her hair up and slowly left the bed, her footsteps light and soundless but she couldn't really see the furniture and accidentally bumped into one of the legs of the bed. Knowing the other girl is a light sleeper, Sana stopped breathing when Mina turned to the other side and slept again, she really thought that the girl woke up for a moment and felt relief when the other was still sleeping, the white sheets covering her frame. Sana's toe was really hurting but she managed to get out of the room without further mistakes and expecting to follow to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, maybe it would help her sleep.  
That was also the perfect time for her to look around the house, it wasn't too dark or too bright in the hallways, the sky was clear enough to let the moon shine above them. She wasn't the type to snoop into others stuff however, when she saw that Chaeyoung had a good number of bookshelves around the place, she entered a room and couldn't stop herself of scanning them. Sana passed her hands through a lot of untouched books and mumbling their titles while seeking for anyone that perked her interest. She liked to read, although it had been a long time she doesn't do so. Her hands stopped right above a marked place that had no book, the others objects there inclined a little to fill the space, without notice she continued walking until her foot encountered the small table there and she wanted to laugh about how much she can be unaware and bump into things.  
" Hi?"  
Sana suddenly heard a low voice behind her and turned around. Jeongyeon stood there with a book in one hand, an envelope in the other, Sana recognized that it was the envelope he keeps inside his briefcase, he had a curious expression.  
" Couldn't sleep?" He asked her, Sana nodded.  
" Me too" Jeongyeon said stepping closer to place the book on the spot in the shelf that was missing one.  
" Sorry" Sana said for a reason she still has to come up with, she just had to say that again. She could tell that Jeongyeon was worried, she could see on his eyes and feel in the air when the guy hesitated in talking with her or even look at her, and it makes it look like a lost connection between them or the whole reason of existence, and it hurt, it hurt because she can't understand how that could happen so fast like she knew him for ages and not knew him at all.  
They only know each other for two days but some things are not to be understood.  
" You're being selfish if you think it's all your fault. The world doesn't spin around you" Jeongyeon said being the sincerest he could be, even being a little harsh. Maybe it was because he was tired of lying. Sana preferred not to respond that inquire or statement, she can't tell, it wasn't time to discuss her life choices.  
" It's going to be ok, right?" Sana asked with a lost look on her eyes.  
" I don't know. You shouldn't be asking me this, you don't even know me" He said a bit too harsh and it hit right into her heart, like being held in a grip, she noticed how words can hurt quickly.

Jeongyeon was ready to leave the room with a serious expression. He was right, she doesn't know him and for a moment she wished she did because if so, perhaps she could stop him from turning his back at her. Sana forgot that she only got up to drink some water after that so she sat down on a couch still feeling sorry, she thought about things like she never did before and didn't realize when her eyes started to close and her sleep got to her, her head rested on the couch uncomfortably, she fell asleep without noticing.  
Jeongyeon couldn't even allow his eyes to close, he came back in the room about an hour later and saw Sana resting there with slow breaths and hugging a pillow she found around the place. He didn't interrupt or woke her up, he was trying not to care about her more than he already does.  
 *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!


	6. Mind

 

 

The light of the morning welcomed a disquiet feeling, the breeze dispersed the heavy air, Jeongyeon was tired from not sleeping too much.

Chaeyoung's house wasn't bad, for now it was home, they didn't know what to exactly expect of that since home was supposedly a safe place.

It was the second day there, they were already packed up with needed stuff, Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung did their best to go unnoticed and buy things but, all the time a sensation in the back of the older guy's head was making him doubt their safety and that was how they managed to occupy a big part of the afternoon. With the evening to restore their energies, Jeongyeon was watching how the sun set down and the stars simply appeared on the night sky, he was sat near a window and with an envelope rested on his lap, the guy wondering and dreaming about nothing much specific. It somehow reached through his ears a sound coming from downstairs that called his attention, he assumed that it was Sana and her usual antics, she had this special way of doing things and surprising everybody so Jeongyeon just shook his head and tried to push some thoughts away, he was thinking too much about her.

A crack of the door of other room echoed through the hallway since Sana was no longer heard, Jeongyeon was with his door open so he was able to turn around and glace Mina leaving her room on the opposite side of his. A thing was bothering him for a while, and it wasn't near simple so he glanced the envelope as known as the reason of his worries and clenched his fist a bit, he was having some troubles to understand the information written on these files and maybe Mina could help him because, well, he honestly didn't want to ask Sana, or rather, he didn't want to be involved with her at all, in fact, he was avoiding the girl since their last talk, the reason not very much specified, his brain just didn't come with an idea about how to address to Sana after that night, maybe he wasn't much comfortable around her, and so he figured it was the best to talk with Mina about his mysterious envelope, or maybe even Chaeyoung for the time of desperation. After a few minutes, he sighed and finally let pride aside to stroll to the hallways and downstairs to ask the girl for help.

He glanced the living room and saw Sana watching what looked like a horror movie before he moved to the kitchen to see Mina quietly sat and drinking what looked like tea, the sunset lights were still the only source illuminating the house so things weren't really clear, Jeongyeon cleared his throat and walked in to sit near her. Mina only raised an eyebrow and glanced the content in his hands.

" Hi Myoui, I need your help" Jeongyeon said sitting on a chair and putting the envelope on the table.

" Is this your father's envelope?" Mina assumed curiously.

" Yes"

" Right. What do you need my help with?" She asked taking another sip of her tea.

" I don't usually ask for help, but I need to understand this" He took the envelope and opened it to show the two files stored there, he then put both papers in front of Mina, she passed her eyes through them and recognized the reasons of his troubles.

" I can't read anything written there, I looked in several books and this language simply doesn't exist" Jeongyeon honestly said. Mina glanced between the guy frowning and both papers on the table. She put her cup of tea down and analyzed the file curiously, she ended up widening her eyes when realizing what was that about.

" What?" Jeongyeon asked seeing her reaction. Mina could rapidly understand that Jeongyeon was nervous, she could hear the trembling in his voice and see the uneasy look on his eyes, of course he was, since that mystery was the last thing his father left him before being killed, he had to figure that out. She glanced between both of the papers and connected them together to analyzed better.

" I think your father wrote this one to you" Mina suddenly said showing one of the papers to him, the other one she preferred to leave aside. Jeongyeon felt a sting on his heart with the sudden subject, it made sense considering how the envelope was found but it was curious, almost like his father knew what was going to happen if he had time to leave such a thing. Mina noticed that the guy was stiff in his place, it was a newly open wound that didn't had time to heal and maybe she was being too direct with that.

" The first one is written in a very odd language and I can't understand correctly either but the second one is recent and I can read clearly a message but it doesn't say much" Mina tried to explain better but not even her own thoughts were coming up with the confusing pieces of paper well written. Jeongyeon sighed with an audible breath.

" Your father, I assume, left you a message saying that you have to remember and find the truth, it's handwritten " Mina said showing him the document. In his eyes he just saw some parallel lines followed by random marks.

" Great... He couldn't have been clearer!" He sarcastically and a bit dramatically said.

" But why can't I see?" Jeongyeon mumbled taking the file.

_' Why would he leave me a message that I can't read... '_

" Maybe because it's magic. I can feel that it has magic properties but this is the only thing I can read, I think Sana can help-"

" Wait" Jeongyeon said. Mina was about to get up and call her friend when he held her wrist.

" I don't want to bother her with this" Jeongyeon said as the first excuse that came up in his mind, that kind of attitude was new, even for him. Mina quickly came up with the situation and smiled a bit, it was in fact the first time that Jeongyeon really saw her showing the semblance of a smile.

" Are you avoiding her?" Mina asked throwing her cautious self through the window for a moment and being straight forward.

" N-no" Jeongyeon hesitated and let go of her wrist. Maybe Mina wasn't that easy to handle.

" I won't help you then" Mina said a bit teasingly, she was sure that he was hiding something.

" What did I do?" Jeongyeon asked in disbelief.

" You're clearly lying to me" Mina said sitting down again.

" No, I'm not" Jeongyeon said crossing his arms.

" Fine, then, I'll call Sana" Mina said ready to leave again.

" Just... Hold on" Jeongyeon said giving up. The whole atmosphere changed in a second, it became heavy and suffocating, he was letting his feelings overflow his best judgement and everyone was starting to seem like the enemy, but he could give a change at least to Mina since she was being honest.

" I'm afraid" Jeongyeon let a weight fall from his shoulders, he sure didn't predict letting his frustrations being known by Mina but it was too late. Luckily, the girl understood and nodded, she also had her reasons to be scared, maybe he didn't want to face Sana at the moment.

" Now, can you help me here?" Jeongyeon ruffed changing his mood one more time, he didn't like to show weakness like that, even if Mina didn't seem like to care if he was weak or not.

" Sure" She said, and Jeongyeon was relieved that she didn't start some sort of speech about how everything was going to be fine or some positive stuff to cheer him up, she wasn't the type to do that but she was a good listener and did understand very well what he meant. Mina was recomforting at least, while Sana was a whole new challenge and one his brain was refusing to accept while his heart was open to embrace, the duality was there and he doesn't know how a girl can make him so confused in such a short period of time.

" So, about this" Mina got back with the subject.

" It says that you should find something but it doesn't specify" She completed before analyzing again.

" That old man always liked riddles" Jeongyeon said annoyed.

" And he was sure that I was going to find this... So why can't I read? " He said contemplating. Mina didn't specifically have an answer for that but she widened her eyes in realization.

" Oh, I know" She said smiling.

" You know what?"

" He knew you were going to discover things because of the way Mark died. He probably assumed that you would find out about magic and this paper" Mina smiled while tapping the other paper, the one she didn't understand yet.

"... Then, if he knew this was going to happen... Why didn't he save himself?" Jeongyeon said serious. Mina's smile fell with that, she frowned looking again at the paper.

" But he did want you to know, and find the thing of this letter, sooner or later"

They became silent, Jeongyeon took the paper in his hands again while Mina tried to discover about the other paper, it had a whole different aspect of writing, and marked the paper with shiny unknown letters.

" Remember" Jeongyeon mumbled. He rested his elbows on the table and held his head down to think.

The sound of footsteps didn't startle him at first, only when he listened the person stopping.

" What's happening here?" Sana asked noticing the worried atmosphere.

" We're cracking a mystery" Mina answered showing the papers.

" Oh,and why didn't you call me?" Sana asked kind of in disbelief like she was profoundly hurt with that.

" Well, I tri-"

" We didn't want to bother" Jeongyeon interrupted Mina and rolled his eyes.

" I'm really good with mysteries you know" Sana said flipping her hair, Jeongyeon facepalmed.

" You really don't need to bother" He mumbled. It was the time for Sana to not to care and just smile. Mina was silently watching the interaction.

" So, what is this about?" Sana asked completely ignoring what he said.

" The envelope his father left" Mina answered, the guy just crossed his arms in defeat. Sana reached first for the paper near Jeongyeon while reading the message his father left.

" What's the truth though?" Sana mumbled taping her chin.

" We're trying to find out" Jeongyeon said slowly taking the paper back from her.

" And I'm not included into 'we' somehow" Sana said taping the table. Jeongyeon only glanced her.

" Sure, just ask the smart one" Sana mumbled, it wasn't like she was really annoyed with that, but Sana is the kind of person that always liked to participate in everything, and she didn't see a reason for her not to be called for that little reunion. Mina only smiled, she always smiles when someone calls her smart.

" Sana, if you want to help just sit down and think" Jeongyeon said giving up, it wasn't like he could avoid her forever.

"Ok, rude " Sana said, actually mumbling the last part before sitting down between them and taking the paper back. She was serious that moment and before when she said that she was good with mysteries, even her expressions changed to a more serious one. 

The other paper was still with Mina while the other girl tried to find more pieces of information in the second one, but it seemed like the only thing written was the message of Jeongyeon's father and so Sana concluded that they made a good job on their own.

" Look at this one" Mina said passing her the mysterious paper. Sana was about to reach but immediately retracted her hand when the letters started to glow more. Jeongyeon was taping the table impatiently but stopped after seeing that.

" What was that?" He asked. Mina quickly put the paper on the middle of the table.

" Sana, try to touch it please" Mina said rushing her, like she made the greatest discover.

The further Sana's hand moved near the paper, the more the letters reacted.

" It glows" Sana said stating the obvious. She was about to touch when the letters moved, it became a formation of vertical words with a faint purple glow coming from it.

" Wait" Jeongyeon said and stopped her hand.

" What does it say now?" He asked Mina.

" Can you see it now?" She asked back.

" Yes, I can see"

" I can't read this language" Mina said in frustration.

" I can, it says 'Jeongyeon' " Sana said staring at the glowing paper.

" How?" Jeongyeon said gulping down a dry lump in his throat, the whole magic thing was still making him shiver.

And then Sana shrugged her shoulders not knowing the actual answered and decided to touch the paper, it was kind of attracting her like a magnet, a really odd one. The glow grew wider, the letters moved and came together to form an orb that floated above the now white paper, Sana retracted her hand quickly and yelped.

" I didn't do anything" She quickly said. Jeongyeon was with his eyes widen.

" I know what this is" Mina suddenly said calling their attention.

" You do?" Jeongyeon asked in disbelief.

" Yes, but I have never seen it before" Mina said trying to touch the small orb but it seemed like smoke around her fingers and she couldn't really touch.

" It's a memory" Mina said staring at it, she seemed excited with the discovery.

" From whom?" Sana asked, she didn't really remembered learning about such a thing but she recalls that memories can be stored as well them can be erased, well, magic can act in strange ways sometimes.

" Uhm, maybe it's for Jeongyeon? Since it said his name" Mina assumed.

" It can't be his memory though, people without magic can't have their memories transformed like that" Mina completed and shook her head in defeat. The guy wasn't talking just thinking, he could see the same thing as them but it was intriguing.

" So why did it only react to her?" He asked making the same movement with his hands as the younger girl and the smoke didn't even move. They both faced Sana expecting her to do the same.

" Ok" Sana said and slowly approached the orb with her hand but it failed to react again.

" At least it has a pretty color" Sana said trying to cheer them up with the fail.

As a clever person, Mina was thinking hard and recalling something she previously learned about memories, since only people with magic could have their memories stored like that, it couldn't have been Jeongyeon, but it could be a warning or a request, Mina had an idea and sprung her head up from her gaze on the floor after that.

" You two, touch it together now" Mina said for their surprise.

Sana stood her hand and Jeongyeon reluctantly held it to approach the small object in front of them, their hand immersed in the fog and it enveloped around their wrist before surprisingly knocking them down, they passed out instantly, luckily, they were sat or else they could have get hurt, everything went black. Mina gasped in surprised seeing both of them like that, the kind of purple fog was holding their hands together and it didn't seem to let go not even when she tried to take the paper back, she even tried to wake them up but nothing seemed to work, Mina could only pray for the best.

.

Inside of their forced sleep, every passing second made they question the place they were, for it looked like a pitch of blackness surrounded by a thick suffocating atmosphere for a second and then the loneliness of a place in the depths of Earth before they were pulled into light. Both couldn't seem anything not even each other as existence seemed like a mere concept in that perspective. Only when cries accompanied by small sobs could be heard was when the emptiness started to be filled by something tangible, the cries got near and the faint light emerged to a bigger and better one. It became like a dream when the person isn't herself, staring behind, just watching the development of events, it all started with a small hand above a bleeding knee and a busted bicycle right beside the person crying, the sun was hot and clear, the street empty and it seemed a calm place for a child to play. They were just seeing through the person's eyes and couldn't do a thing not even react.

 _*" Sana, are you ok?"*_ An ethereal voice came from the back of the crying girl. It was quickly assumed as the girl's mother. The version of Sana watching the dream/memory quickly recognized as her mother's voice and Jeongyeon, that was also seeing the shared memory, remembered meeting that person earlier in the police station. The scene followed by the girl, that they now known as a younger Sana, getting up and trying to suppress her cries, she shook her head to her mom and pointed painfully at her knee. She wasn't more than six years old.

 _*" It will get better"*_ The almost faint voice said before everything disappeared once more.

It only became light again when the same girl was with a band-aid above her hurt knee and sat down on the same street, apparently on the same day but playing alone with a toy, her mother wasn't far and sat on a bench right behind her while talk with someone that couldn't really be pointed out, because it was blurry at the not so vivid memory. The younger Sana seemed happy and enjoying her life so she didn't expect it all being broken down by a sudden flying ball coming at her direction and knocking the toy she liked so much of her hand, landing far away from her. She was about to yell and cry with the stupid person that did that, so she turned around already stomping her foot because she had a difficult temperament, she saw a young boy approaching, not much older than her and with a skateboard that looked too big for him right below his arm, he was supposedly there to pick up the ball.

 _*" Hey! "*_ Sana shouted when the boy passed through her like he did nothing. He only blinked staring at her before turning his back to pick up his ball.

Jeongyeon gasped seeing himself in Sana's memory like that.

 _' You got to be kidding me'_ He thought surprised because he actually didn't remember anything about that or even visiting that street in his life.

 _*" Aren't you going to apologize?"*_ She asked crossing her small arms. The younger Jeongyeon didn't even turn his back this time, just proceed to pick up her fallen toy and got back to the girl, it looked like she was about to cry when he stood the toy in front of her.

 _*" Here"*_ He said giving it to her. Sana was still mad at him, she was about to talk when her mother approached them from behind.

 _*" Sana, my dear, it looks like you already met Jeongyeon"*_ Her mother said, she was walking to them along with another woman.

 _*" Come here"*_ The other woman said to the boy and Jeongyeon ran to her and hid behind his mother. The Jeongyeon watching the whole scene didn't had seen his mother in years, not even a picture of her since she passed away, he could feel all the sudden emotions shattering his already shaken heart.

Meanwhile, the younger Sana ruffed in annoyance and nodded to her mother.

 _*" Sana, this is Yoo Jeongyeon and I'm a great friend with his mother"*_ Mrs. Minatozaki said introducing both people.

 _*" Say hi to her"*_ Jeongyeon's mother said to the shy boy. He just stood there not knowing exactly what to do.

 _*" He is shy"*_ His mother said chuckling. With that, Sana was the one that decided to approach.

 _*" Hi"*_ She said but she was still mad at him. He stared at her before letting his skate down and running away just remembering his lost ball.

 _*" Jeongyeon! "*_ His mother called with the action.

 _*" Oh, it's fine"*_ Sana's mother said. Then, they proceed to sit on the bench again but this time Sana was sat with them while Jeongyeon was nowhere to be seem, the girl noticed and started to look around for him just to see the boy receiving his ball from a strange looking man that was talking to him. Jeongyeon seemed frozen in place while glancing to his sides.

 _*" Uhm, mom"*_ Sana said calling and pointing for where Jeongyeon was. Her mother took a while to respond and the strange looking guy was already walking to them while holding Jeongyeon by the hand. His mother jumped in place when she saw what was happening and quickly got up from her seat. The guy smirked evilly to her while approaching them.

 _*" I believe this is yours"*_ The man said handing Jeongyeon, that was oblivious and just walked to his mother.

 _*" What are you doing here? "*_ Jeongyeon's mother asked surprised, her blood was already boiling in anger.

 _*" Looking for you of course, I believe your life is mine now and I'm here to take it from you"*_ The man said with a serious gaze.

 _*" I told you to stay away from me and my family!" *_ His mother said and hid the boy behind of her.

 _*" That's right, and she has allies now"*_ Sana's mother said, the younger girl's hands were starting to shake, she was hiding behind her mother and she was sensing the danger.

The strange guy rolled his eyes.

 _*" You still dare to defy me. I was looking to end this quickly"*_ He said clicking his tongue.

 _*" And I don't have the intention to leave this place before getting my revenge. I mean, it's not every day that we get and unguarded Yoo"*_ He completed smirking.

 _*" Don't you dare to make a move"*_ Jeongyeon's mother said.

 _*" And you'll do what? A filthy human like you can do nothing"*_ He retorted and stepped closer. Sana's mother was a little back but ready to react, the problem was that she was catch off guard and the guy motioned a quick yet powerful spell to make her stay in place, they underestimated his powers, she was paralyzed and with Sana scaredly gripping her from behind.

 _*" Now it's your time but it will be much worse"*_ The guy said and got a step back again, Jeongyeon's mother couldn't react when a blast of fire appeared on the guy's hand, Jeongyeon widen his eyes when the guy aimed at them.

 _*" Mom! "*_ He yelled and got in front of her, she always taught him about protecting others so he didn't think twice before getting in between the shot when the guy fired against his mother. The blast sent both to the ground, Jeongyeon wasn't throw that far and Sana saw when his head hit the ground and when the blood started dripping from it, it was near her, actually, right in front of her since she was still hiding behind her mother. It broke her heart and made it almost stop when she could see the bad guy approaching Jeongyeon's mother and using his magic to take her life, Sana fell on her knees, she felt a sting on the hurt one but didn't care, she closed her eyes and only opened when she felt something warm staining her, it was blood, from Jeongyeon that was lying unconscious in front of her. She panicked and cried, the bad guy was still there and laughing, she could hear but luckily, he was starting to walk away and she cried harder, her small hands approached Jeongyeon and like her mother always told her, she tried to help him even with her teary eyes. Sana slowly put her hands above his head.

 _*" Stop bleeding "*_ She said like the boy wasn't dying and just hurt.

 _*" I know I was mad at you but you're forgiven"*_ She softly said. Then her hands started to glow and she remembered her father teaching her about how to control it when she is trying to help someone hurt, her tears were still falling above the unmoved Jeongyeon and she saw the bleeding stopping and the wound healing as her mother pushed her back from the boy's body. The bad guy was gone and so the spell that kept the woman paralyzed, she moved Sana to her chest as the girl was now stained with blood and utterly traumatized. The rest of the scene dispersed like a fog and everything went blank again.

The next thing that happened inside of that dream was a door being open, it was familiar for Jeongyeon since it was his old house, footsteps were getting louder and into the house, it was morbid and Jeongyeon's house was in a state of grief when Sana and her mother walked in to meet his father. The boy was nowhere to be seen but, the guy that greeted them inside the house said that Jeongyeon was still in medical care after the accident. Sana was confused, she just listened the adults saying that it was better for her to not remember that day, they could make her forget but Jeongyeon's father insisted about seeing what happened with his own eyes so that was just another reason for the memory to be taken but he stored it, now Sana could remember it all again and then she closed her eyes for the memory to be over.

Jeongyeon remembered being in the hospital when he was a child but he was never explained properly about that, and his father always said that his mother was in a better place.

.

When they woke up, Chaeyoung was around walking side to side worriedly and Mina was impatiently taping her foot waiting for anything to happen, in her perspective, ten minutes passed. Their hands were still together and Jeongyeon was the first to retract, he held his head, a string of tears getting out of his eyes, he felt Sana holding his shoulder but he got up from the chair before wiping his falling tears. Sana's hands were shaking and she couldn't breathe right, it all came crashing back and now she is sure she can't ever forget what happened that day.

Mina hugged her tightly, her heart was almost jumping and she realized that Sana couldn't answer her questions in the state she was. Jeongyeon only got in the living room still a bit dizzy, he doesn't recall how he had strength to get upstairs and lock himself in his room before collapsing crying on his bed, a lot of things filled the blanks in his mind, but if it was like that he preferred to forget all over again.

 >>>>>

The other day came crashing down, they only saw Jeongyeon in the afternoon and he wasn't talking with anyone, just passing around and surviving. Sana was trying to be ok with all of that, but even her had a nightmare with the day of that incident and she was glad that the memory was taken when she was a child.

Both Mina and Chaeyoung debated and came up with the conclusion that something important must be in that memory, not in plain sight yet. They just have to wait until that new wound to be closed again.

*

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! i hope it all makes sense hehe...


	7. Power

 

 

Detective Choi YoungJae, a name well known from his remarkable capacities of discovering what others try so much to hide. It became ironic to some of his associates the fact that he was so immersed in probably the first case he couldn't crack, for much a mystery that it was, YoungJae wasn't one to give up so easily, if Mark died for a reason he was damn sure to find out. The police station was the usual, he scanned around the place with his eyes and found the same impression he always had about there, people seemed to already move on about the murder so he felt kind of left behind in the shadows to pursue something that much people didn't even remember, it was his job after all. His desk was crowded with files from the case, Jeongyeon, Mark, Sana, Mina, he could see all their names and pictures, their life stories were right in front of him and nothing seemed unusual especially Jeongyeon's life, it was calm and it didn't seem at all that he could even kill anyone but YoungJae knew that he was missing a piece or even the whole picture because a big secret was yet to be disclosed about the guy. He was also having problems in connecting them together, so much was missing. Of course, YoungJae considered the possibility of the guy not being the murderer but after the incident in the Minatozaki house, a very odd incident without any much explanation because some things there were weirdly placed, suspicious increased a lot, and with Jeongyeon also disappearing the same time as the girls, he wasn't going to give up until someone pay for the crimes. At that moment, he passed his hand impatiently in his black thick hair, waiting for a permission that should have be given an hour ago, he was planning to search for Jeongyeon in other town because he knows that the guy is nowhere around and that is the only thing he could do to keep the investigation going on. He knew that Jeongyeon wouldn't possibly do all of that alone so a bigger conspiracy was going through his mind.

>>>>>>>

For Jeongyeon, it was day after day and keep going with not much to count on, but he soon realized he had to hold on with what he still had, well at least he was health and almost sane.

One week passed after the earlier events and discovers about their past, it was getting better, they talked and planned to let the pain behind. For the mystery, they couldn't solve just yet, a lot of missing pieces still had to be placed together, little they knew about the whole reason behind the said truth his father meant with that memory, frustrating. It surely lined up with their change of lives, they just had to find out how.

The week was calm and good, for Jeongyeon, he can say that he grew closer to them in a way, especially Sana because the girl simply didn't leave him alone, like she was really pushing forward to be his friend and so she was always talking with him, even when Jeongyeon wasn't in the mood for talk, she had her way to try to make things better for him, she cares about how he is feeling lately, mostly after she found out about saving his life when they were kids. He is stubborn and grumpy sometimes, although he can't deny that her stories about meaningless things in the middle of the day made him curious, Sana can be funny and happy and fill the other's hearts with joy when she wants and Mina was also beside her most of the times, more listening than talking. Mina also did her best to explain about that the whole operation was being commanded by these three bad guys and that it was actually like a cult formed with people joined with the sense that magic should be recognize for everyone as a part of the modern society instead of remaining hidden so with that they could rule the world and also, how the cult believed that Sana was a crucial part of the plan, or her splendid powers to be precise. Chaeyoung was being caring with all of them, he seemed excited about being part of their ' gang', as he likes to call, to fight the bad guys and discover new things about the world.

Nonetheless, Jeongyeon didn't expect things to remain calm like that, he was right and well, he isn't happy for that.

The first sign of their current mistake was when a loud noise was heard outside the house, seemed like coming from near the front door.

It was night time, Chaeyoung was the first to get up because of his alarm, he practically ran out of his office where he had fall asleep accidentally, and quickly arrived in the entrance, there he met Jeongyeon that was around and also searching the source of the alarm.

" What happened?" Chaeyoung asked in a hurry.

" I don't know" Jeongyeon said while the other disarmed the alarm. Chaeyoung opened the door of the house carefully and watching out, just to be surprised by an unusual sight before them. At first, nothing was in their line of vision but both guys decided to step outside and also look up, bad move, a creeping sound was coming from above. Jeongyeon was also really surprised but was able to think faster, the smell of burning metal was already so close, right above the door of the house was a car, Mina's car to be precise, but the matter with the car was that it was burning, covered with flames and in the middle of the air just floating like it weighted nothing, magic of course, could be scary when used like that. Imagining that situation would be impossible if Jeongyeon was going to predict the many ways to die, hit by a flying flaming car, wonderful! But it wasn't his time to die yet, he still had work to do and so, Jeongyeon grabbed Chaeyoung's arm and that acted like a trigger for that so different kind of trap, the car started to crash down to land right on them, luckily their neighbors weren't wake to see that. Jeongyeon really showed his rapid skills when he was fast enough to throw Chaeyoung and himself out of the way, they landed back inside the house, close to the door and for a second the end flashed in their eyes because the car was about to explode from the impact if reached the ground, for the enemies, it was more like a warning to act like that, using their belongings to kill them, and the police was never going to figure out how that happened, they had no one to blame for a car suddenly exploding like that. If it wasn't for Sana they couldn't have survived that day.

The girl was standing near the stairs and facing the car since the front door was open, with her hand up like holding an invisible object, the car stopped right before the two guys, it was really near the door. Jeongyeon sprung his head up and saw the girl focusing on not letting the burning car down like her life relied on it. Until Jeongyeon saw the bit of blood sliding from Sana's nostrils and her eyes growing tired, he recalled that she can't really control her powers, especially with an effort like that.

" Run" Jeongyeon said to Chaeyoung. The younger guy got on his feet and ran to the opposite direction, just in time for Mina to show up that gasped in surprised.

" Shit! They found us" She said the loudest she could in that moment, like she wasn't impressed with her car flying and on fire, the perks of being used to magic. As for Jeongyeon, he only had time to kick the door shut and run to Sana, he almost stumbled but managed to get to her. Jeongyeon held her standing hand and hugged her closer in an attempt to make her stop and shield her from any upcoming danger, he knew it worked when he heard the explosion behind his back, the door was ripped open, all the visible windows broke and glass splattered around the floor, even the furniture got damaged when a large piece of the car pierced through the couch, Chaeyoung looked at all of that with his mouth open, he was certain that they would die if Sana wasn't fast enough before.

Jeongyeon realized he was still hugging Sana and lifted her head to see if she was ok, her eyes looked lifeless for a second and her mouth was stained from the blood that run out of her nose but she nodded getting out of the trance as reassuring him that she was ok.

 _' Thank God'_ Jeongyeon thought letting a relieved sigh. His moment was taken by Mina dragging Sana away from him and making they run upstairs. Jeongyeon looked back and saw about four guys approaching the house, one with a distinct yellowish hair, Jeongyeon just had time to enter his room and grab the briefcase before joining the others.

" I know you're there, don't need to hide" A male voice came from the downstairs. They were inside Chaeyoung's office.

" It's Yugyeom" Mina told them since she also saw the guy getting inside.

" One of the three guys"

" How did they find us?" Jeongyeon asked regaining his breath, he was behind the door to hold it shut along with Chaeyoung. Sana was quiet and blinking slowly at them.

"... Shit! Are you guys with cellphones?" Chaeyoung asked gazing his computers. Mina and Jeongyeon nodded.

" They might have tracked you down! " Chaeyoung said.

" Shit" Jeongyeon hissed, a loud bang was heard as the door of other room got ripped off.

" Do you have another exit?" Jeongyeon asked, his breath was getting faster again.

" Of course I do!" Chaeyoung said quickly. They were talking in rushed whispers.

" Let's block this door first" Chaeyoung said but looked around quickly and found nothing to do that. Until, Sana grabbed his chair and with quick steps she moved the chair to hold the doorknob. Jeongyeon facepalmed with the girl's attempt.

" I don't think this is going to work" He stated. Sana yelped.

" They are close" Mina said, she could hear the footsteps.

" Let's go" Chaeyoung rushed them to the other side of the room. He pushed a hidden button behind one of his computers that opened a really small passage in a wall with what looked like a staircase.

" What?" Jeongyeon asked rhetorically, Chaeyoung was really full of surprises, he brutally unplugged all his computers and pushed them to enter the passage.

" It leads to the kitchen, go" Chaeyoung said.

Sana and Jeongyeon quickly ran inside, which was a bad idea because the girl was still a bit dizzy and almost hit her head on the floor when she tripped, her knee got bruised but Jeongyeon secured her arm to prevent more damages since the lights there were dim.

Mina was helping Chaeyoung to close the passage when they heard the door being scattered open across the room. They ran from there to find the other two waiting in the other end of the passage, Chaeyoung punched a password and a door slowly opened near the fridge, he guided them to the backdoor and to the garage the fastest they could.

" Quickly" Chaeyoung said sitting in the driver sit, both girls sat in the backseat, Mina on the left and Sana on the right, Jeongyeon sat beside the other guy on the passenger seat.

" Let's go" Jeongyeon yelled as the smaller guy drove away from there, he saw the bad guys just in time entering two cars to follow them.

" Shit! They are after us" Jeongyeon said as the guys followed them really close, he was turning around to see the proximity of the cars and that allowed him to look at the backseat. Sana was letting her head drop of exhaustion and that didn't go unnoticed by Jeongyeon.

" Is she ok?" Jeongyeon asked worried and almost whispering to Mina, his heart was feeling that heavy bad sensation. The girl didn't know how to answer, in fact, that was her first time seeing Sana like that so she just held her hand. Sana was with a dark aura and it didn't suit her at all because she was always so bright, she was blinking slowly and there was still blood on her chin. Jeongyeon was almost freaking out seeing that, he was about to reach a hand and lifting Sana's head when the car abruptly swiped forward and hit a tree. The first hit wasn't that hard, only enough to smash the front part and not much of it, what concerned them was the second hit, the following car crashed into theirs and that was enough of a damage, it made their car go forward and like that, the back part and the engine were destroyed.

It felt like happening in slow motion, Chaeyoung was about to scream something when he felt his car aiming for that tree against his wishes, like a spell, one of the bad guys may have used powerful magic to make their car lose control, desperation hit him when his body swung forward while his head was ready to hit the steering wheel but Chaeyoung was saved by the airbag, they were luck he wasn't going too fast. Since Jeongyeon was turned around, his back was the most hit by the impact, he winced in pain feeling it hit the windshield as a piece of glass sharp through his jacket and clothes and crave near his spine while other things damaged the rest and his shoulders, he saw when Sana stumbled forward and hit her head on his seat, making her nose bleeding even worse than before but he also saw that Mina held her down and because of that Sana didn't get more bruises. As for Mina, her situation was somehow the worst, even beyond Jeongyeon, not because only they hitting the tree but her side of the car was automatically hit by the other car, the one pursuing them, and make her head bruise look like nothing compared to the ones on her arm and back. Nonetheless, with some kind of twisted luck, they all were wake or half-wake like Sana, and alive.

" Is everyone ok?" Chaeyoung was the first to squeal behind the smoke coming out of the engine of the car.

They could hear Mina letting and painful breath trying to move from her place, it looked like her leg got stuck.

" We need to get out of here" Chaeyoung said when he saw a small flame getting wider by the minute. Jeongyeon did his best to get out of the car, his door was still intact at least, he helped Chaeyoung removing his seatbelt, it really saved his life. After that the two guys got free, they started to help the desperate girls on the backseat, Mina's blood was starting to cover the seat, Sana noticed that and widened her eyes finally getting back to reality.

" Mina" She said weakly.

" Hang on, I gonna take you out of here" Sana said trying to hold Mina.

" Sana, go" Mina said pushing her, her eyes showed an unusual desperation in contrast with her calm self.

Right in time, Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon were able to open the door beside Sana that was previously stuck.

" Never" Sana said still trying to move Mina from the place, that hour the smoke of the fire was starting to fill the insides of the car. What was incredible was that the driver of the other car looked dead behind the steering wheel, he was oddly alone, a sharp piece of metal hit his head, it was probably from the other half of the door at Mina's side, one half was also keeping her there, strangling her foot even more.

" Go" Mina said again and pushed Sana lightly. The latter tried to use magic but it didn't work, perhaps because she was exhausted and the pressure was getting the best of her.

Jeongyeon held Sana's arm and indicated her to leave the car, she shook her head.

" I'll take her out of there, I promise" Jeongyeon said sincerely, Sana looked right into his eyes and nodded, she trusted him after everything.

Chaeyoung helped Sana to step away from the perimeter in case of an explosion, both of them saw Jeongyeon coughing and the bad situation was only getting worse when the fire started creeping right beside him.

" Keep her safe" Mina said weakly since she was losing much blood.

" You're not going to die here Myoui" Jeongyeon said using all his strength to finally release her leg from below the broken door. He hugged her in his arms and took her out of the car breathlessly, they only got some few meters away when the other car exploded, followed by their own. They almost didn't get out of that alive.

" Thank you" Sana said wiping her tears when Jeongyeon rested Mina on the grass floor, they were near another tree around the place, it was a camp with fresh grass and it was ironically beautiful beside the trouble they just had. It was incredibly dark, Mina was with her eyes closed and breathing weakly. Sana tried again to use her magic but even with that she knew that Mina's bruises were too deep and too many and her healing powers wouldn't help with all of that, Sana let more tears slide down her cheeks in worry.

It was only when Jeongyeon stopped walking and sat on the ground when he felt the pain in his back, luckily his head was intact but he couldn't possibly reach the bigger wound and got more aware of his chances of still dying even surviving the car crash. But that wasn't all, what mostly make him aware and in the brief of snapping into madness was the sound of another car quickly getting closer, wheels marking the road as the bright car headlight illuminated them.

Sana rested Mina's head on her lap and grabbed her closer, Chaeyoung was checking her life signals and mumbling about how much they needed to get out of there and go to a hospital.

A gray and expensive looking car stopped and from inside of it three guys came off, one of them was the one with yellowish hair.

" Yugyeom" Sana said, more like warning them, she was getting mad because her friend was hurt. She passed the care of Mina to Chaeyoung and got up, wiping the blood of her face and trying to look aggressive.

" You!" She said with her loud and high-pitched voice. The other guy was with his hands in his pockets looking around the car crash, he seemed uninterested.

" Stay away from us" Sana screamed with all her mighty. Jeongyeon was resting on his knees on the grass surroundings but ended also getting up.

Yugyeom started to walk closer to them and lifted his hand threatening to release a spell, that made Jeongyeon push Sana behind his back to protect her for whatever the guy was planning.

" No. It would be too easy" Yugyeom said out loud and letting his hand down. Then it got silent, much silent, he took his expensive watch and tucked in his pocket.

" My guys weren't really successful in ending you so I came here myself to finish this" Yugyeom said and called his associates.

" By the way, we need her alive" Yugyeom said uninterest and pointing at Sana.

" But the rest of you, well, will die today" Yugyeom said normally, like he was used with that.

" Over my dead body" Jeongyeon said with anger.

" That's exactly what I'm planning to do" Yugyeom said. Besides his joyful appearance the guy hid a darkness in his soul, mostly from the people he killed already, he had an objective and believes he is always right so doing those things had purpose to him, everything was a goal to be reached. Yugyeom walked to them with a smile on his lips, Jeongyeon pushed Sana more to stay behind him and that allowed her to see the blood sliding his back.

" You're hurt" Sana whispered lightly touching his wounds.

" It's ok" Jeongyeon said holding all the pain, maybe it was the adrenaline of the moment but he felt invincible even being hurt.

For what felt like an eternity, Yugyeom got close enough from them that he could stand a hand and reach for Jeongyeon.

" Just handle her to me" Yugyeom said serious and standing his hand to Sana. The girl stepped closer to Jeongyeon.

" She obviously doesn't want to go with you" Jeongyeon stated.

" Believe me, if you wanted a fight, now you have one" Yugyeom said lifting his sleeves, he was getting annoyed about having to do everything himself but he found Jeongyeon so intriguing that he really wanted to fight him.

" I'll teach you a lesson" Yugyeom said snapping his wrists.

" Try me" Jeongyeon said, he felt Sana stepping back and far from him so he prepared himself to fight.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, i tried :)


	8. Attempts

The whole world seemed to stop for a moment.

There were still facts hiding behind the unexplored shadows, and not to forget, in the back of their minds. For many reason that Mina thought about why other people craved for Sana's powers she didn't know the greatest one, no one actually had much information about that, it was so subtle, the tiny differences inside of her and the brief moments when her powers failed, it got unnoticed. Getting weaker, even around the whole world people felt their forces fading when a minor sparkle didn't even light up, and still, they had hopes that magic was there for them all the time. Funny fact, Yugyeom was stupid sometimes but he was precisely one of a few people that realized what was really happening, maybe his intelligence comes in other ways or times. The threads of magic were starting to fall and collapse, he noticed how the balance and strength of everyone's powers were being weakened in at least the past year, threatening his own goals. It was time to act and he was sure that his side of the story was the right one, the certain one that would thrive from the ashes when all the conflict ended. People were killed, tortured and robbed with one principal goal, unify and conquer, win power enough to maintain magic alive and spread to the world to see how powerful they are. He didn't count with resistance like how he was seeing in Sana and Jeongyeon, that threatened him. No one would stop them and if he needed Sana's huge amount or magic, he would fight for it.  
A gush of wind made the refreshing grass blades sway through their feet, Jeongyeon was with his fist up ready to punch the other guy, the lights of the car illuminated them along with a streetlamp far away, he would do anything to take them alive from there. Yugyeom only smirked and signed his guys to stay out of that.  
" You're going to lose" Yugyeom carefully warned. Jeongyeon clench his jaw and stepped closer.  
The quickest punch flied to encounter Jeongyeon's clenched jaw, he could feel the blood on his mouth and his face already getting swelled while he stepped back. Yugyeom was fast but Jeongyeon was smarter, he was able to avoid the next punch and find an opening near the guy's chest, where he exactly hit, perhaps Yugyeom wasn't much of a fighter or underestimated the other guy. Right after that, Jeongyeon gave him a kick near his knee and landed a jab on his jaw to make the guy step backwards, giving him another opening that allowed Jeongyeon to kick his chest, sending Yugyeom to the ground.  
The other bad guys, stepped forward but they didn't count with Sana also joining the fight, no one did, really. She used her magical strength to mentally lift some debris of the car crash and send them right on the heads of the other two bad guys, that fell unconscious on the ground after some seconds. She wished to have strength to help Jeongyeon but it failed when she tried again, something was wrong and she finally realized that using magic wasn't that simple anymore.  
" Shit, man you're really strong" Yugyeom said spitting blood and getting up. He knew his powers were too weak after all and couldn't use it against Jeongyeon.  
" Right" Jeongyeon said, he was still hiding all his pain. He gave other kick but was avoided, Yugyeom gave a punch on his stomach seeing the opportunity and did a sweep kick sending Jeongyeon to the ground, he didn't stop there and started giving heavy kicks on the guy making the bruises even worse, he was breathless.  
" Stop" Sana said almost screaming, the situation changed really fast and she could see Jeongyeon losing the fight. Yugyeom looked up to her just for a second but that gave enough opportunity for Jeongyeon to also send him down, making a quick movement to change positions and grab the guy by the throat.  
" You're n-not g-goi-ing to kill m-me" Yugyeom tried to say while his face turned red from the lack of air, he punched and kicked from all his sides to get rid of the hold but it had no way.  
" You don't know me" Jeongyeon said not letting the hold go, he was going to choke the guy to death. Sana was watching the scene with her eyes widen, Chaeyoung got close to her and held her arm to take her out of there, the younger guy was with Mina on his back but he didn't want Sana to see that, Jeongyeon was going to kill Yugyeom.  
Sana shook her head and put a hand on her mouth.  
" Jeongyeon" She said weakly, the guy didn't hear her. She stepped away from Chaeyoung and walked to the place, in a matter of seconds Yugyeom would be dead.  
" Jeongyeon stop!" Sana managed to say fearing the worse, she didn't want the guy to become a killer.  
Jeongyeon gazed her with bloodshot eyes, for a moment he watched tears falling from her eyes and slowly let Yugyeom down, falling unconscious.  
He saw Sana crying, he couldn't take her crying anymore, it didn't suit her at all and she cried so much in the last days that he couldn't be another reason for her to suffer. Jeongyeon kicked the body away from him while getting up, his state was bad but he walked to Sana, stumbling.  
" Let's go" He said grabbing her hand for them to leave.  
" But-" Sana said.  
" He isn't dead" Jeongyeon interrupted her.  
" Why do you care anyways, he tried to kill us" He said clearly annoyed.  
" But... If you kill him, you'll become a killer" Sana said serious and staring him in the eyes. Jeongyeon wanted to facepalm but he understood what she meant. His heart softened that she cared about what he was going to become or not, he almost threw his beliefs away if it wasn't for Sana.  
" Fine, but we have to go now" He said, she nodded.  
" Where are we going now?" Sana asked.  
" We can't go to a hospital, they will find us" Jeongyeon said when they got closer to Chaeyoung.  
" I know a guy who can help us. I trust him but we can't walk to there" Chaeyoung said adjusting Mina on his back, dripping blood.  
Jeongyeon eyed around and noticed Yugyeom's car.  
" We're going with that but we have to get rid of it right after" He said pointing at it.  
" I have an idea about how we can do that" Chaeyoung said. They all agreed and headed to the car, the keys were still there for their luck.  
" I'll drive" Chaeyoung stopped Jeongyeon from getting on the driver's sit.  
" You go to the backseat" Chaeyoung said shooing him away, he already had placed Mina on the passenger sit. That time they made sure that everyone had their seatbelts on, they couldn't afford another car crash.  
Mina was still unconscious but her bleeding stopped at least, Sana stopped the bleedding, the girl was trying to work as a healer to keep Mina alive or else the latter would already be dead, Sana was on the backseat, but holding Mina's hand to heal her the best she could even with her powers stopping for a few moments, and to calm her own nerves. Jeongyeon was sat beside her and a little uncomfortable with the situation on his back.  
" Want me to see it?" Sana suggested noticing his discomfort. He nodded. She let Mina's hand go and turned at him.  
" Just be careful ok, I don't think it damaged my spine" Jeongyeon said and unclasped his seatbelt to turn his back at her, he also felt pain on his stomach where Yugyeom kicked and on his face but it couldn't top the mess on his back. He slowly took his jacket and held tightly on the door with one hand, while the other held on the driver's seat as he expected pain.  
Sana lifted his shirt up slowly until it reached his neck, a lot of purple bruises covered his back and a big one where it was most hit had some blood. She frowned seeing all of that, letting a worried breath in the air, she carefully placed a hand on his back, trying to at least heal the damage, well, she did that out of instinct but Jeongyeon froze immediately.  
" W-what are you doing?" He asked quickly and a bit tense.  
" Trying to heal" Sana obviously said.  
" Ok " Jeongyeon said eyeing her from his shoulder. She then put both hands, he looked away quickly.  
" Here it goes" Sana said and closed her eyes to focus.  
" Hurry u- Aaaah" Jeongyeon let a small scream, it was like he felt all the pain together and then a shock ran through his body until the tip of his fingers.  
" Hold on" Sana said hearing his scream and worried about if she made some stupid thing. Jeongyeon clenched his jaw. Sana's hands were shaking by that moment. Until the pain started to disappear as most of the bruises faded like they weren't there, a tiny shock made his body shiver as Sana took the hands out of his back, it seemed to work, she sighed and clasped both her hands together.  
" Thanks" Jeongyeon said before crashing on his spot.  
" Anytime" Sana answered also resting on her seat beside him, exhausted.  
Chaeyoung was quietly driving and making sure he remembered the way to their destination, he refused to let Sana help him in any ways, he wasn't that bruised. It wasn't a long ride, he just had to get on the other side of the town and drive through a hugely inclined slope road to get on the place where his friend lives.  
About ten minutes of tension passed, Mina was now stable, she could make in time to treatment without dying, thanks to Sana, even the girl's breath was better and not uneven anymore. Sana was letting her head rest and dozing off, Jeongyeon was observing her with the corner of his eye and noticed how her eyes were closing from time to time.  
" Sana, you can't sleep, you just hit your head" Jeongyeon said sounding more concerned than he intended with the warning.  
" But I'm so sleepy" Sana said yawning.  
" Stay awake, it's better" Jeongyeon said reasonably, almost softly, she never heard that tone before. Sana turned her head to his side and nodded, they were sat so close that moment, just realizing the proximity. The air almost left his lungs when he turned his face and looked at her, he gazed her features like making sure to remember, she was also gazing back at him with her big brown eyes that reflected the world around them, it lasted for about four seconds when Jeongyeon noticed a thing.  
" Wait" He suddenly said and reached her face with his hand a bit reluctantly, he lifted her head, she was letting him because she was curious and amused at the same time, she had a little of blood still on her chin from somewhere, she made a huge effort that day, he wiped the blood away.  
" There, it's clean now" Jeongyeon said, call him a cleaning freak that thing was really bothering him. His eyes widened a bit when he quickly analyzed what he just did, he retracted his hand and then froze in place.  
" Thank you" Sana said smiling a bit. Jeongyeon looked away, he could fell his cheeks heating little by little. He cleared his throat feeling it dry.  
" It's fine... Are you tired?" Jeongyeon asked to keep the conversation going and gladly she would forget what just happened. Sana looked at him with a confusing look, he was never that caring with her before, it seemed almost like she really mattered to him but she wasn't going let that get through her head. She was still facing him but he was looking forward, his side profile was so perfectly reflected in her eyes, his sharp jaw line and small brown eyes, even the soft features make him look beautiful especially when the moon shined right on his skin.  
" I'm fine. You? " Sana was able to mutter, she felt her heart skip a beat thinking about him like that. Jeongyeon hummed.  
" Don't pass out ok? Or I'll get really mad at you" Jeongyeon said with a serious expression and not looking at her, he was afraid that if he looked at her whatever was happening inside his chest would start again. For the statement, he was serious about that, he would get mad.  
" Really? I don't want to see you mad" Sana said with a teasing tone, she always finds the weirdest ways to ease the mood, maybe it was her defensive instinct, for more that it was inappropriate for the moment, she had to say or do something like that, it's like her thing and it really completes her charms Jeongyeon thinks, he could easily get used to that, she can't ever let him down.  
" Yeah you really don't" He said quietly chuckling.  
" We're almost there" Chaeyoung said suddenly said, speeding more through the empty road. That interrupted an upcoming awkward silence. Sana rested her head back on her seat again.  
" Don't worry, I promise to not to sleep now" She said with a small smile on her lips. Jeongyeon only hummed in response, then he left a heavy sigh.  
.  
The bumps on the road were becoming more evident from each passing time, the sun was rising. Chaeyoung whipped the sweat already sliding from his forehead, he was taping the steering wheel while humming some song to distract himself, although, Sana was talking for the past twenty minutes about her theory regarding the existence of dragons and how cool it would be if she ever seen one, Jeongyeon was listening attentively and trying to keep up with the great amount of fantasy slipping the girl's mouth, for more that magic is real, Sana seemed to find a way to make it surreal. That was enough of a distraction.  
After they passed an exaggerated slope, in the not so big tip of a small hill, a big house was located, it looked expensive and a bit too extravagant for the surrounds but the set of colors fit it perfectly with the sky, the sun was up by then, the view was gorgeous because there was a cliff right beside the house, it seemed a dangerous and elegant spot to live, no other house was seen besides that one so Jeongyeon easily assumed that Chaeyoung must know the owner. The slope they had to trail to get there was enough to hide the place from curious eyes.  
" My friend is a doctor so I think we're going to be fine" Chaeyoung said parking the car dangerously near the cliff.  
" I think he already knows we're here" Chaeyoung said pointing at the surveillance cameras from the distance.  
Sana was the most excited with the place, it looked like took out of a movie, her mouth was hanging open and that was the only reason she got quiet for a moment. She was the first to get out of the car and gaze around, the air was fresh up there besides the height of the place. She looked at the car again when the guys got out of it and frowned seeing her best friend still unconscious.  
_' I'm sorry Mina'_ She thought letting her gaze drop, she was thinking that it was her fault somehow.  
Someone interrupted her thoughts when got in front of her to open the car door, Jeongyeon put Mina in his arms and called Sana to walk with him while he followed Chaeyoung.  
" I hope this works" Chaeyoung mumbled more to himself in a brief to knock on the door but Jeongyeon heard since he was stepping closer to him.  
" What-" Jeongyeon started to say but someone opened the door of the big house.  
" Tzuyu!" Chaeyoung said happily. A tall guy with a cold expression blinked slowly gazing at them and suddenly shut the door without saying a thing.  
" Wait" Chaeyoung called knocking on the door again.  
" Let's talk for a second" He said pleading.  
The door was open again.  
" What?" The tall guy breathed sharply.  
" Help us please" Chaeyoung said making puppy eyes.  
" Why should I? You still own me one Chae" Tzuyu said crossing his arms.  
" I'll owe you two, come on man, it's a life or death situation" Chaeyoung pleaded again.  
Tzuyu briefly gazed the other people with him, a guy with a tired expression with a pale unconscious girl resting on his arms and other girl in the back adjusting her bangs and looking around with a curious expression. Tzuyu wanted to laugh for a second, he really doesn't know how Chaeyoung gets in so much trouble, he already helped once and helping twice didn't seem to hurt so he just shrugged his shoulders.  
" Follow me" Tzuyu said to Jeongyeon.  
" Thank you so much Tzu" Chaeyoung said getting into the house.  
" Yeah whatever" Tzuyu said shooing him to the living room.  
" You don't seem hurt so stay here and don't mess with my stuff. The rest just come to my lab" Tzuyu said already walking down to a hallway.  
" But Tzuyu I am hurt" Chaeyoung complained. Tzuyu stopped and turned around to look at the guy.  
" I don't see where" Tzuyu stated analyzing him.  
" I hit my head" Chaeyoung said. Tzuyu smiled.  
" Maybe it knocked some sense into you" Tzuyu said smirking.  
" Don't mess with me Chou Tzuyu" Chaeyoung said stomping his foot. For a moment they seemed to forget the actually injured people waiting for them, so Jeongyeon cleared his throat in an attempt to call attention.  
" Oh, sorry. This way" Tzuyu said politely guiding them through his enormous house with expensive furniture and a somewhat of comfortable environment, different from the last few days in their life. Maybe there they could find some peace.  
*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!!


	9. Away

 

 

The smell of smoke mixed with flames was slightly in the air, like it couldn't let go of the moment.

YoungJae threw a glare facing the situation, a house was burned to the ground and somehow, he had a quick vision of the destruction in Sana's house passing through his thoughts. Other town, same case, same mystery, it didn't take long to discover the connection between Mina and Chaeyoung, since the latter's house was clearly destroyed, luckily it didn't spread but the intentional fire consumed all of Chaeyoung's house, Yugyeom did that before leaving but, little does YoungJae knows. A good amount of suspicious was raised and like that, the local police decided to call him to fix that mess. Well, at least it allowed him to have permission and search for Jeongyeon in other places, maybe that was one of his doings, surely it all connected together. 

He soon entered the perimeter, it didn't have much of a house left there or many things to see, it was even useless to look for any clues in the place, deranged pieces of metal lied in the front door and the firemen were still to find out how that happened. YoungJae felt his cellphone ringing and got out of the place for a while, it was work related. He was surprised when one of the policemen of the town informed him about an arrest they made earlier and that it was related to him, or better, the case, in a not so direct way, finally, he was instructed to go to the hospital to see what they meant.

.

YoungJae was fast to get there, he headed to a room were police officers guarded the door of the special patient. He came in without thinking twice.

" Detective" The guy laid on the bed said, not even surprised.

" Kim Yugyeom" YoungJae replied, he sat on a near chair beside the guy, although Yugyeom didn't seem to be in too much of a bad health situation, he was still being kept there. 

" What brings you here?" Yugyeom asked, yes, they had already met before, and previous to all of that.

" They told me about the car crash and about Son Chaeyoung's car near one of yours obviously. And his house was found burned down"

" So?"

" Maybe you could explain me better about how that happened and how do you know him" YoungJae suggested, he was a caring guy and left a smile even for that criminal. In fact, they only knew each other from previous arrests, or attempts of arrest, Yugyeom was known for being deeply involved with the black market so the detective was looking for a way to imprison him for a while now. The opportunity finally came and since the car crash resulted in one death, they were able to keep Yugyeom watched as a suspect, even being in the hospital. 

" I can't tell anything for now" Yugyeom said, landing his gaze in the turned on Tv that showed some uninteresting comedy show. 

" We have enough to keep you arrested" YoungJae said expecting to be some kind of a threat. Yugyeom sighed.

" I know" He said not looking at the guy.

" We can make it easier for you if you talk about how you know Yoo Jeongyeon" YoungJae said for much that he doesn't like making that kind of proposal. Yugyeom looked at him and dryly chuckled.

" I'll be fine" He said.

" What do you mean with that?"

" There is so much you don't know Detective" Yugyeom said, emphasizing the last word.

YoungJae looked confused at him.

" That's right, your little mind can't handle it yet, but you'll soon be enlightened" Yugyeom said playfully.

YoungJae was making mental notes about that, the situation and the connections, it couldn't be a coincidence. He looked down thinking and let a loud breath, he sank on the chair he was sitting and rubbed his temples. Yugyeom was staring him, like he knew what was going on. 

" Can I drop the formalities for a minute Yugyeom?" YoungJae asked, he also hated to pass through this kind of situations but he had to be honest with the other guy. Yugyeom nodded and instantly regretted because he just remembered the pain around his neck.

" He kidnapped two girls, probably innocent, and this Chaeyoung guy is also missing, you're the only person here that may know anything about it" YoungJae was sincere. The other guy tried to laugh but it was suppressed by his bruised neck.

" Fine, I'll tell you something" Yugyeom said, he was always the soft one of the gang.

" I'm not in this alone, maybe you can accidentally find one of my associates and maybe they could lead you to the guy you're looking for"

" So, maybe you can tell me now how to find your... Associates"

" I think I can try" Yugyeom said, he wasn't trying to get anyone in trouble with his actions, but he was positively moved by the thought of YoungJae getting into more trouble than he already is. 

 >>>>>

It was raining outside; the storm was coming closer.

Mina immediately woke up to feel a strong smell of alcohol near her, her sight was a little off but she could see the looks of the place and assumed she was in a hospital. The thought startled her because a known hospital would still be dangerous for them, more dangerous than staying in the streets. She rapidly sat up and felt a piercing pain through her head, she also noticed that her leg was casted when she tried to move it, it broke from the car crash, bruises covered her once pale skin, from small ones on her face to bigger on near her arms, she also had a bruised lip.

" Calm down" A guy said beside her and that was when she realized she wasn't alone in the room. Mina laid down again and looked at the source of the voice, a tall doctor wearing a lab coat was sat not so far and looking at her with expressionless eyes. 

" Who are you?" Mina asked with her small voice and dry throat. 

" Your doctor" Tzuyu said not bothering to explain further. 

" Where am I?" Mina asked making an effort to distinguish the place she was, analyzing the room.

" You should rest" Tzuyu simply said.

Mina seemed fragile laying in the bed, she looked around more attentively and noticed that the place didn't really looked like a hospital, more like a laboratory. Tzuyu kept looking at her until she threw a glare at him, then he turned around on his chair to proceed what he was doing there, actually working, he put his earphones and shook his head, the girl didn't seem to be a problem so he didn't mind her presence.

Mina saw a table with medical supplies and thought of a plan, she just didn't trust the person near her and wanted to escape from there since he didn't give her answers. Maybe it was a dangerous place, she wasn't sure, but it was better not to take the risk. The girl unplugged the IV without making any noises and bit her lip sitting up, the pain on her leg made her breathe sharply but she was strong enough to bear it and get up slowly, it was enough to walk at least, all weight in her almost good leg, the guy wasn't far, just three steps from her, or else she wouldn't be able to do that, she held tightly to the fabric of her clothes to suppress the pain while biting her lip. Mina didn't make much noises and Tzuyu was really distracted. With her free hand, she took her loosen black hair out of her face and silently was able to grab a scalpel of the table near her bed. 

Tzuyu wasn't aware enough, he was scrambling between papers and clicking his pen distractedly, because of the earphones, he wasn't able to ear Mina getting closer even thought she was practically dragging her leg through the way, she made a quickly move and put the sharp scalpel near his neck. He froze and gulped down surprised.

" Calm down" Tzuyu said, it sounded calm coming from a person being threatened.

" Where am I?" Mina asked again, she also sounded oddly calm.

" In my lab, that's in my house" Tzuyu answered. Mina still didn't let him go.

" Who are you?" She asked again since she never saw him before. Tzuyu grinned unconcerned.

" Your doctor" He said, Mina clenched the scalpel more further on his neck.

" I'm serious. What's your name?"

" I can see that you're serious but killing me wouldn't give you answers" Tzuyu said pointing at the sharp object. Mina slowly took the object off his throat and he turned around on his chair. 

" My name is Chou Tzuyu. I'm friends with Chaeyoung" Tzuyu clarified, getting up, Mina just realized that his presence can really outstand and stepped back, the guy still didn't let his face show an expression through that time, just a small grin that didn't say much.

" Why should I believe you?" Mina asked narrowing her eyes.

" You probably shouldn't" Tzuyu said.

" But I won't hurt you, I actually saved your life. Ask Chaeyoung if you want to, he is upstairs" Tzuyu said seeming uninterested.

Mina struggled to walk away back to the bed, Tzuyu didn't help her, she got up alone and she was going to get back alone.

" Why didn't you just say so?" She said placing the scalpel back at the table, she seemed relieved compared with before.

" I wanted to see your reaction and you surprised me" Tzuyu said walking away of the room.

He glanced quickly at inside of the room before closing the door and heading upstairs and call Chaeyoung, he isn't a guy that gets easily surprised when it comes to other's actions, Mina clearly intrigued him. The girl ended up laying on the bed again, she was still a bit tired. 

Tzuyu got back a few minutes later, he even brought crutches and put on the side of her bed, Chaeyoung was right after him, the latter almost ran to enter the room. 

" Oh my God, Mina are you ok?" Chaeyoung asked worried. Mina nodded and looked behind Chaeyoung like expecting more people to show up. Tzuyu sat down on his chair again to see their interaction.

" Where is Sana?" Mina asked already with her eyes widen.

" Uhm, about that... You see, she... left" Chaeyoung said looking down and letting a small uncomfortable chuckle. Mina seemed not to come up with the idea at first but when she did, it hit hard, she clenched her fist.

" You're joking right?" Mina asked sitting up.

" N-no. You've been passed out for four days now. She left yesterday with Jeongyeon and told me to warn you that they're going to fix everything" Chaeyoung tried to explain, he even took a step back because Mina was glaring in front of her ready to kill someone. She looked serious and nodded, then she sat on the edge of the bed, eyed the cast on her leg and grabbed the crutches.

" Mina, what are you doing? You need to rest" Chaeyoung said since the girl should be laying down to not force her leg.

Mina got up, she doesn't get angry much but at that moment she was furious, she was already walking to the door of the room while mumbling something about they all being stupid and that Sana would probably get killed, Chaeyoung was startled for a second and just followed her when Tzuyu passed near him, it took the two guys to tell Mina to calm down for her to stop painfully walking, even with crutches. Tzuyu stood in front of her with his arms crossed and blocking the door while Chaeyoung grabbed her arm. 

" You'll open your stitches and that's more work for me so I advise you to go back to the bed" Tzuyu said not flinching a bit when she shot him a glare. 

" Yes Mina, you need to get better if you want to help Sana" Chaeyoung said trying to calm her down. 

Mina frowned and with the help of the two she got back and sat on the bed. She wiped a single tear scaping her eye. Chaeyoung stood beside her and Tzuyu just shook his head. 

Chaeyoung was a bit worried about the other news he had to tell. 

" They didn't tell me where they're going and" Chaeyoung mumbled. Mina was gazing the wall but looked at him expecting him to finish the sentence.

" Look, I also have my concerns and people that I care about. It's been a while now so I was just waiting for you to wake up to tell that I'm leaving too" Chaeyoung said, and it's been a while that Mina didn't see the guy that serious.

" I understand" Mina said nodding. Chaeyoung smiled.

" You'll be fine, Tzuyu will take care of you until they come back" Chaeyoung said pointing at the other guy that was back to his papers. 

" Correct" Tzuyu simply said not even bothering to look at them.

" I'll go to my girlfriend's house, it's safe there so don't worry about me" Chaeyoung completed.

" Ok, good luck and thank you for helping us" Mina said. Chaeyoung let a warm smile again, showing his dimple.

" Take care, I'll leave now" He said.

" And Tzuyu, I'll come after you if you don't take good care of her" Chaeyoung said approaching his friend.

" Whatever. You can take one of my cars to go" Tzuyu said shooing him away.

" Good idea" Chaeyoung said already thinking about one of Tzuyu's expensive cars.

" I'll show you the exit" Tzuyu said leaving the room.

" Bye Mina" Chaeyoung said waving his hand to follow the other guy.

" Bye" Mina said to no one in particular, she was alone again, her goodbye echoed through the room.

.

" Now you owe me three but who's count right? " Tzuyu said chuckling and passing the car keys to the other guy.

" I wasn't joking when I said to take care of her, she is my friend" Chaeyoung said getting inside of the car.

" I wasn't joking either, she'll be fine" Tzuyu said closing the car door while the garage opened.

" I'll see you later Tzu" Chaeyoung said turning the engine on.

" See you later Chae"

Then the guy sprinted out of there on the wet road, the rain was becoming heavier. Tzuyu eyed the car until it became out of sight, he sighed and closed the garage to go back to his laboratory. He made sure that the house was safe and everything was closed before going back so, after a while when he entered the room, Mina was asleep again, clear marks of tears stained her cheeks. Tzuyu shook his head and approached her, he put the IV back into her veins and she let a tiny groan escape her lips, maybe she was having a nightmare. Tzuyu checked her life signals and decided to go back to work, he still had to take care of her injuries but just when she wake up again, the girl got tired from the shock she just passed through.

.

.

.

Inside of the four walls of the lab, Mina couldn't possibly know that it was the bright morning of a new day, at a distant location from the safety of Tzuyu's house, Jeongyeon was hiding behind a corner, eyes locked at the pavement of the sidewalks while he waited, he was starting to stomp his foot on the floor because it was taking too long, she was late, Sana was taking too long to do her task. Jeongyeon knew that it was risky for her to try alone to deceive some guys for information.

It still echoes inside his mind when she insisted in doing that.

_*" I can do this Jeongyeon" Sana said frowning.  
_

_" I don't doubt you, it's just... Just come back soon and if it doesn't work, scream, I'll be there" Jeongyeon said tucking his hands in his pockets, he was trying to be discreet.  
_

_They were standing outside a club, it only opened at night but a few people were leaving the place from the other night, it was really early, the employees were still there leaving the place, they saw bodyguards still standing near the doorstep and seeming unaware._

_" Ok, I'll be right back" Sana said, she adjusted her bangs and put a bright smile on her lips, her job was to discover if anyone around had seen BamBam the last days.*_

Better than being pursed, they started looking for the bad guys, Jeongyeon's plan, Sana just agreed but she held most of the information, for instance she knew that BamBam liked to frequent these kinds of places in that town. It was their second try because the first failed miserably with they being kicked out, Jeongyeon almost got into a fight, almost. 

He could hear Sana's laugh not so distant, it made him relieved in some way since it broke the silence of the morning, but he was still impatient, Sana was supposedly flirting with some guys to get the information, he clenched his fist without noticing with the thought, he heard footsteps and sank deeper in his hiding spot, trying to go unnoticed. He quickly noticed that it was in fact Sana coming closer to the place. 

" I'm back" Sana said sighing. Jeongyeon raised his eyebrow, and let a breath he didn't know he was holding.

" What?" Sana asked.

" Nothing" Jeongyeon mumbled.

" So, " Sana smiled. " I got the info" She said jumping in place.

" And?" Jeongyeon asked pushing his back from the wall.

" First, I would like to say that I have incredible abilities in convincing people and they fell into my charms" Sana said chuckling. Jeongyeon rolled his eyes. The girl was successful in making the bodyguard believe that BamBam was her ex-boyfriend and she wanted revenge, she even made up with a dramatic story about how he cheated on her, and that really worked, now she thinks she is brilliant.

" Second, the guy came here one week ago, they told me to stay around and I can get in with no problem to search for him tonight" Sana said clapping her hands. 

" You? Alone?" Jeongyeon asked crossing his arms.

" Oh, I guess you can come with me" Sana said nodding while thinking. Jeongyeon hummed, he was sure going with her even if she didn't want him to.

They noticed how the earlier silent streets were filling with people, although they were just minding their business, Jeongyeon was kind of paranoiac when he caught glimpses at their direction, mostly in Sana and sometimes it just makes him angry. 

" Let's go" He said wearing his backpack because he thought that it was better than walking around with a briefcase and leaving the obscure spot. Sana also didn't want to be noticed and put on a cap in an attempt to hide her face and look discreet.

Surrounded by morning workers and early students, the places they passed didn't go unnoticed, for a brief moment Jeongyeon looked through the window of a shop and realized how hungry he was, his stomach growled and he frowned. The action was quickly seen by Sana since she was walking beside him and saw how he slowed his steps to look closer.

" We really should eat or else we might pass out" Sana suggested eyeing a piece of cake from afar. Jeongyeon nodded.

" But we can't fool around too much, let's just order something and go" Jeongyeon said opening the door of the place. It was a simple coffee shop but everything they could ask for, a lot of cakes so Sana almost squealed in happiness, it had been a while since she ate that.

" Go order, I'll look around" Jeongyeon said handling her the money and walking through the place just observing.

" Creepy" Sana said behind her breath as the guy sat in the far corner of the shop.

She proceeded to order something for them and then sat in front of him to wait since her coffee still had to be done, for what they can tell they were the first costumers that day. 

Jeongyeon looked outside of a window near them while Sana taped her fingers on the table. She took a glance at him and saw how the guy was focused on the streets, she can tell that he is worried.

" There's something I didn't tell you" Sana said not breaking her gaze. 

" What?" Jeongyeon quickly turned to her. She smiled with his quickly answer.

" It's just..." She sighed.

" I knew BamBam before he... You know, became evil and all" Sana said looking down at the table.

" Go on" Jeongyeon said curious.

" Ok. When we were kids our families knew each other and so we played some times. He was like, this height" Sana said standing her hand in the air to indicated what she meant and that the guy was short before.

" Oh" Jeongyeon simply said. It must be painful for her to be pursued by an old friend. 

" After a while we stopped talking much, with my powers growing so everyone was overprotective. I think he just followed his new friends and became how he is now" Sana said with a sad chuckle. 

" For what I can tell he still chose this path, there was nothing you could do" Jeongyeon said. Sana finally looked up again.

" But, I could help him if I knew that he was thinking like that, it's like rebelling, he wants to doom us all" Sana said trying not the tear up.

" You don't know that, maybe he couldn't be helped" Jeongyeon said, his voice was soft and calmed her nerves, she nodded trying to let that go.

" Sana, it's going to be fine" Jeongyeon felt like he had to say that, he almost choked in his own words, speaking those things because he can't be sure, even though at that moment he just didn't want to see her crying again. Sana left a small smile and nodded, she rubbed her eyes and sighed a bit. 

" Thank you" Sana said letting a sharp breath, all the honest of the world in her eyes, Jeongyeon enjoyed to see how they glow so much, his heart skipped a brief beat so he had to hold his thoughts to come up with an answer. He was about to open his mouth to reply when their order got ready. 

" It's ours, let's go" Sana said already getting up and walking to the counter.

.

Their stash of money was starting to shorten but was enough for them to buy some new clothes and get two rooms in some hotel, of course Jeongyeon wanted to share a room at first for safety, but he really didn't think that through, Sana did and made up a claim about he being too paranoiac and that was starting to creep her. Eventually, he let her be and only noticed that he really offered to share a room with the girl when he got inside of his own. 

_' She must had thought that I'm a weirdo'_ Jeongyeon thought, slightly smacking his head. He was laid down and staring at the not so interesting ceiling of the place. 

He was kind of right about that, well not exactly, but he was right about the part that Sana was thinking about him. It wasn't her intention to have her thought interrupted by trying to decipher the meaning of Jeongyeon's actions in the past fell days, maybe she was being the paranoiac one. Didn't hurt to prevent things sometimes, he could still be a psycho after all.

The day was still in the middle but Sana was preparing herself to sleep the whole afternoon, while Jeongyeon got hungry again and paced through the halls, he wanted to walk a bit and think, it wasn't safe at all to be alone but he meant when saying that he can really throw a good punch to defend himself although, he still got some bruises from the car crash. 

.

There was a movement he didn't expect to make when he finally left the elevator to find his way to the lobby of the hotel, he hid against a wall when he saw a familiar guy entering the building. 

" Shit, not again" Jeongyeon mumbled not believing his eyes.

The first guy was soon followed by another and he also recognized that one, it soon became three guys talking with the receptionist. They were the same ones that shot Sana's house. Jeongyeon was static for a moment, he gulped down when the guys started walking at his direction, with a rapid thought, he turned around and started walking in the opposite direction because the guys were close. He held his breath when they passed near him, they didn't recognize Jeongyeon but his blood freeze when the guys entered the elevator to go to a higher level. 

" Sana... " Jeongyeon mumbled finally releasing his breath. If the guys discovered about where she was, she would be all alone to face the three of them. He had to be faster.

*


	10. The Plan

That day was tiring, it didn't seem wanting to end.

Raged breaths, Jeongyeon ran to the near elevator expecting to find Sana before something bad happens.

_' Damn! If they know where she is...'_ Jeongyeon punched the elevator button quickly to the floor that Sana was, he wondered if taking the stairs would be better but it was too late and he is not that fast. He stopped breathing when the elevator door opened and he saw the guys passing in front of it, looked like they didn't know which room Sana was, Jeongyeon was shaking with the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he walked on the hallway behind the bad guys, the most discreet he could be, they were heading to the end of the hall and that was awful because the guys were going in the right direction with him trailing behind. He let a low sigh when the guys passed in front of Sana's room and continued walking, that moment he was sure they didn't know at all the room she was. Luck. The guys weren't far and he couldn't take more risks of being exposed, the next move would be decisive and he managed to knock on her door nervously, the bad guys were now walking more further away. 

The nervousness only increased because Sana wasn't able to fully listen the quick knocks and Jeongyeon wanted to punch that door to the ground if it remained like that. 

_' Please open'_ He thought knocking again. 

The girl inside the room groaned when someone interrupted her sleep, she rubbed her eyes and fixed her hair before lazily walking through the room to slowly open the door, she was precisely startled when Jeongyeon rushed inside the room, a nervous flick of cold sweat sliding his forehead, he rapidly knocked the door shut behind him.

" What's happening?" Sana asked with her heart jumping in place from the scare.

" We need to leave now, they found us" Jeongyeon said shaking her shoulders.

Right then, a loud noise was heard in the hallways as rushed footsteps echoed through the place, Jeongyeon held the girl's hand to run to the other side of the room to pick up her stuff and leave as soon as possible. He glanced the window and saw the afternoon turning into a morbid atmosphere with thick clouds decorating the sky, that also gave him the opportunity to think of escaping through the window but that would be too dangerous for Sana and he can't risk her safety like that. Jeongyeon was also worried about his own stuff inside his room as he soundlessly approached the door with Sana walking right after him, her heart pumping quickly as she gulped down a worried sigh, they opened the door carefully just to see the hallway already empty seeming like a single soul didn't passed there for a while. Jeongyeon griped Sana's hand tightly as they skipped to his room, that was right beside hers, he closed the door shut and finally release the girl to pick up his backpack and wipe his forehead that was sliding sweat. Sana was doing her best to have any good ideas about how they were going to get out of there or if the guys found them, any escape route sounded dangerous so her brain was crashing, nervousness was getting to her even if that was usually a foreign feeling, she closed her eyes to focus but was interrupted by Jeongyeon holding her hand again to get out of the room.

" Do you have a plan?" She half whispered hoping to sound quiet.

" No" Jeongyeon said serious, he was about to turn the doorknob. Sana gripped his hand and he stopped.

" Trust me" He said turning to her. Sana nodded in silence as he half opened the door to take a peek outside. It somehow made Jeongyeon wonder if the bad guys were stupid or just oblivious as he could see them in the other end of the hall, it meant that he and Sana could go to the other side but it was opposite to the elevators that were being blocked by the enemies' presence.

" Let's go" Jeongyeon breathed out and fully opened the door. He walked quickly hoping to find the stairs in the extension of the place. Sana was right behind him and being guided as they still held hands, she was almost stumbling on her own feet as they walked fast without making too much sound.

" It's her! Catch them! " A deep and loud voice echoed through there, the hall was big and narrow, Jeongyeon turned his head to see the source of the voice and the bad guys were already running after them, a bullet passed right in front of his eyes and hit the wall, that made him push Sana to in front of him and shield her because, maybe, their plan changed and they don't need her alive anymore or the bullet was just for him, he doesn't know, but getting the two alive from there was the priority. Another bullet was still able to tear a piece of his shirt, dangerously near his arm, he is now sure that the guys were aiming for him. The stairs were, luckily, right in their reach so in no time Sana opened the door and Jeongyeon kicked it close as they entered it. They ran downstairs because their lives really depended on it, Sana barely on her feet and Jeongyeon right behind her praying for the girl not to fall before they arrive at the main hall.

It was somewhat silent for their footsteps, the door was banged shut as they left the hotel, the burning sun of the afternoon catching up on their eyes as the clouds seemed to disperse, their car was near and they got inside it so fast, Sana at the passenger seat and Jeongyeon driving as he sprinted out of the place, he didn't see the guys anymore so he assumed they weren't being followed. Everything happened too fast, Sana finally could breath and Jeongyeon clenched his fist, it was becoming a routine being able to escape like that, just for a fine minute or even a second, although he doesn't know how much longer he will be able to protect her. 

Minutes passed, they were in a familiar place.

" Are you ok?" Jeongyeon asked breaking the exaggerated silence between them. 

" I'm fine. What about you?" Sana said still calming down.

" Alive" Jeongyeon said making a dangerous turn, he couldn't risk them being followed.

" This is madness" Sana said dropping her shoulders and puffing her cheeks in anger, she looked down.

" Hey" Jeongyeon called her attention, he really doesn't like seeing her like that. He decided to stop abruptly inside a hidden corner near an alley. That made Sana turn to face him.

" Don't worry" Sana said before he could even think and smiled to him.

" I'm not" Jeongyeon mumbled.

" So why did you stop?" Sana asked, Jeongyeon decided to turn his gaze elsewhere because the girl had a playful smile on her lips now.

" No reason, I just think here is good to hide"

" It's ok to worry a little" Sana said more serious, she wanted to play or cheer him up but that was a truth that hit her deeply.

They were stopped and probably safe for the moment, cars passed behind them but they were safely parked as a strategy, not sure if a good one, made by Jeongyeon in the last minute.

" I just don't want you to get hurt, so next time open the door quickly" Jeongyeon said more serious.

" I don't want you to get hurt either" Sana said teasingly. Jeongyeon squinted his eyes at her and she giggled, he was getting used to hear that sound. He can tell that she is calmer for the way she is teasing him again, it's like her way of doing things, again, Jeongyeon could get used to that, or better, without noticing, he already is used to her and her antics. 

" We're going to stay here for now, if everything goes fine we can proceed with the plan" Jeongyeon said taking the car keys of the ignition.

 >>>>>

The detective was gathering enough clues to follow. Since Yugyeom talked to him, and the things he said, it was more like a maze than an actual answer, he was getting busy with the pressure landing on his shoulders, his own life was beginning to turn only to that big unsolved charade.

The first attempt he made was actually trying to find Yugyeom's car, since it wasn't in the accident, Yugyeom said that it was probably with the people YoungJae is looking for. A dead end, little did he know that Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung had thought about that and pushed the car to its end in the bottom of the cliff near Tzuyu's house, no system would be able to survive the large fall, so, no tracking. From there it was dead end after another, but since he is not a quitter, YoungJae did his best and found the end of Yugyeom's imaginary and thoughtful maze set for him, YoungJae discovered a location after his research, better than nothing. It was already mid-day when he figured it out, he was going to follow the lead near dawn, when people weren't much in the streets for him to investigate better.

>>>>>

It was full moon that day, even though they couldn't see it clearly. People say that crazy people get crazier in this kind of days.

Jeongyeon and Sana waited until the night, he drove slowly to near the club, expecting to finally do what they got there to do, well, at least Jeongyeon was waiting, Sana was just sleeping. It wasn't going to be easy, he planned to kidnap BamBam from wherever he is, he thought that since they were being pursued, it would be smarter to find the bad guys first so the plan was simple, get inside the club, find BamBam and then drug him to take him out of there without being noticed by the huge amount of inspected security of the place, well, perhaps it wasn't that simple. The first part was guaranteed by Sana earlier, her hidden tactics of lying or convincing, as she likes to tell, decided to show up that day for their please. What Jeongyeon didn't count was that BamBam actually has the possibility of recognizing Sana and that leaves him to approach the bad guy instead of her. He wasn't going to let her do that alone anyways, for him, the girl has to be in his line of sight all the time for the plan to work, if it works of course, it was starting to sink because that moment, Sana was actually fast asleep on the passenger seat while Jeongyeon shook his head in disapproval, the plan is already going wrong and it didn't even start. Well, he did interrupt her sleep earlier and for a good reason, now he has an even better reason to do that. 

Not yet.

Jeongyeon was about to shake her to life but he hesitated, not because he didn't want to wake her up but because he may have a better way to do that.

_' It wouldn't be cruel right... '_ He thought facing the car horn and lightly touching it. Sana was so peaceful and in a bliss while sleeping, Jeongyeon smirked. 

He did take a while to press the horn but when he did, Sana jumped in place and covered her ears, Jeongyeon was smiling and suppressing his laugh with the girl's expression, she was pale like she just saw a ghost when she faced him in disbelief as he let go of the horn, she frowned in discomfort. 

" Why did you do that?" Sana asked letting go of her ears.

" We have to go" Jeongyeon said trying to sound serious.

" I almost died" Sana said holding her jumping heart.

" Don't be so dramatic" He said shaking his head in disapproval.

" You're the dramatic one, you could had just called me instead of doing this, now I have a headache" Sana said profoundly hurt with his actions.

" Yes, but it wouldn't be fun" Jeongyeon said mocking her. That was weird for Sana, he being like that. She clicked her tongue ready to say something but stopped herself and faced in front of her while crossing her arms in annoyance. Jeongyeon opened the door of the car and got out, expecting her to do the same, when Sana refused to move from her place, he looked inside the car while tapping his foot impatiently.

" Are you really going to stay here alone?" He asked her. Sana puffed her cheeks in annoyance and uncrossed her arms. 

" Fine" She said giving up and going out of the car. Jeongyeon smiled and showed the way to her. Sana fixed herself and Jeongyeon did the same, they had to at least look presentable to met BamBam and to not seem so suspicious.

" Wait, did you get everything?" He asked looking suspiciously at her.

" Sure" She said walking away, he held her arm, they faced each other, Sana adverted her eyes to the ground. 

" I'm serious Sana" Jeongyeon said. Since they were about to kidnap a person, Sana was in charge of the drug to make BamBam sleep and, the rope they were going to need, was in Jeongyeon's backpack that he adjusted on his back. Sana touched her pockets and found what she was looking for. 

" It's here" She said showing it to him.

" Good" He said. Sana turned around before he could finish the word and walked away in front of him, he felt bad with that, maybe he did something wrong after all.

" Sana, wait" Jeongyeon said, she stopped and turned around, he walked to her, they were in the streets only being lighted by a post lamp on the empty road, it was late already since they agreed that it was better to do that without too many eyes on them.

" You know the plan, right? Follow it and if it doesn't work get back here" Jeongyeon said, he stopped walking right in front of her, she was facing the ground and nodding still feeling her headache. Jeongyeon sighed. He reluctant moved his hand and lifted up her chin.

" Don't put yourself in unnecessary danger and... I'm sorry" Jeongyeon said, since she was now looking at him, he let her chin go, she can't deny that he apologizing get through her heart and her heartbeat mismatched for a second. Sana bit her lip a little, she got a bit nervous with executing that plan, so many things could go wrong. 

" You're forgiven" Sana said and started walking again. Jeongyeon was following right behind her attentively.

The club was already open, even in the streets could be heard the muffled loud music coming out of there, Sana let her serious expression go away to impersonate her character of earlier, the same bodyguards were there and it was her time to get them inside the place quickly, a line full of people as right in front of them and they weren't going to wait.

Jeongyeon was impressed when Sana managed to find a common topic with one of the bodyguards and started a conversation, since she already had talked with him, more like lied, she guided the talk until she mentioned how much she would like to enter the place, the bodyguard smiled at her and was about to let her enter when he finally noticed Jeongyeon behind her.

" Is he with you Miss?" The bodyguard asked her and she froze. Jeongyeon was about to talk something hopefully helpful but Sana surprisingly held his hand and squeezed.

" Yes, he is my boyfriend" She said happily, well, trying to hide that she felt her throat drying saying those words. Jeongyeon looked away hiding his now starting to blush cheeks. Sana was smiling brightly, she intertwined their fingers and held his hand tightly.

" Ok, you two can enter" The bodyguard opened the door and let them inside still a bit suspicious. Jeongyeon let a relieved sigh.

The place was huge from the inside, more than what looked from the outside, it was going to be difficult to find BamBam in that sea of people.

" Where is he?" Sana asked out loud, it was so noisy that she almost screamed into Jeongyeon's ears.

" I don't know" Jeongyeon screamed back. They didn't let their hands go yet. Luckily the place wasn't that dark so they could see the surroundings. 

" Stay close" Jeongyeon said near her ear, he pushed his way to the bar as Sana was trying not to let their hands go or else she was going to be lost in the crowd.

Once they got there, after much effort, they broke apart from each other, Jeongyeon could clearly see things from there, Sana sat down to recover herself as the guy was only interested in finding who he was looking for. The smell of alcohol was lingering so much in the air, that Sana was taking slow breaths, she wonders if it was better to come earlier but it was too late.

" Damn it, I don't know how to find him" Jeongyeon said sitting by Sana's side.

" You're the one that have to look for him since you actually know how he looks like" He completed.

" Right" Sana said but she was distracted looking at the variety of drinks and alcohol in front of her. He noticed that.

" We can't drink today" Jeongyeon said rolling his eyes.

" What? I wasn't thinking about that" Sana defended herself facing him. Jeongyeon raised his eyebrow.

" I'm serious, I was thinking about if this place has some short of VIP area" Sana explained better. 

" I see" Jeongyeon said but still a little suspicious.

" It's a good plan, let's look for it" He completed and got up, Sana held his arm.

" Wait" She said, Jeongyeon sat down again.

After some wait, the bartender finally got to them, since the place was huge and crowded it took a while for them to be noticed. Sana firstly asked if the place had a VIP area, the bartender laughed at her and she laughed along. 

" Of course, we do, it's right there" The bartender answered while pointed to a staircase really well protected. Sana thanked and turned to Jeongyeon.

" See? Easy" She said proudly.

" Yes, you're a genius" Jeongyeon said sarcastically.

" How are you going to enter there miss genius?" He asked in rushed whispers. Sana yelped, she didn't have an answer to that and knew that her last resource was spent when they got in the club, it couldn't possibly work again, the area was well guarded. She faced the place, it was odd and like she was supposed to be there, as if a warn from no one telling her to go. 

" I'm sure that BamBam is there, it's hard to explain" Sana said, she got up and easily walked to the staircase, Jeongyeon followed her until the point they couldn't get in anymore.

" I believe you" He said eyeing the security there.

" Sana, I have an idea" Jeongyeon said after some seconds of thinking, he pulled her to a more silent place to say his idea.

" Created a distraction and we can run inside of there"

" But how?"

"... Use your magic to break something, or call the securities' attention"

" The fire alarms?" She suggested seeing it close from where they were.

" No, we just need the security to move not all the people here"

" You want some sort of trouble or fight?" She said.

" Yeah, it can be" Jeongyeon said nodding, he eyed the crowd.

" You see that two guys? Spill the drink of the right one on the left one" Jeongyeon indicated the people he was talking about.

" Are you sure?" Sana asked since the guys were really near them.

" Yes"

" Ok, I'll do it" Sana said. She and Jeongyeon got near the staircase to the first floor and also the VIP area, they were discreetly beside the security and pretending to focus elsewhere to not raise suspicious.

" Now" Jeongyeon whispered to her. She lifted her hand a little and concentrated, she focused in one of the drinks and spilled in some guy, the one that got stained started to become angry because the one that spilled said it was his fault. The fight started with pushes that soon became punches but the security in the VIP area didn't move a bit to help, it was starting to worry them. Until one of the guys tripped and fell onto the security guard, an elbow hit his face and he was mad, other drink stained his clothes and the other securities followed him to contain the fight, making the staircase unguarded. Sana ran to there, since she is not that good runner Jeongyeon just had to walk behind her and they were able to enter the first floor/ VIP area.

" We did it! " Sana squealed happily when their reached the first floor.

" Shh" Jeongyeon warned her since people were starting to look at them.

" Let's find the guy" Jeongyeon walked away to a hallway that lead to a bigger area. They got in a place where many people seemed to have their own party with their group of friends, it was different from the people downstairs, everyone now seemed too busy in their own worlds.

" I see him" Sana said and stopped walking, she pointed to the other side of the floor, where BamBam was surrounded by a bunch of people.

" This isn't going to be easy" Jeongyeon said discreetly resting his back on a wall while eyeing the bad guy.

" Maybe I can go ther-" Sana started to walk but he held her arm.

" You're not stupid, remember?" Jeongyeon said pulling her closer.

" Let me do this, he will recognize you so, you stay here and waits, we have to make sure that the path is clear and how where going to leave here" Jeongyeon said, Sana nodded, all she could do was agree at that point, she had that uneasy look on her eyes.

" Give me the thing, I'll go there before anyone notices us here" Jeongyeon said standing his hand expecting her to hand the drug that will make the bad guy pass out. She was fidgeting and didn't move.

" What's wrong?" Jeongyeon gulped down a sensation of worry.

" I have a bad feeling" Sana said with an ache in her heart.

" Ok, so we're going to look for the exit first" Jeongyeon said reasonably, he couldn't do all of that without Sana, she had to calm down first. 

They passed to the hallways again, it was the opposite side from the big hall that BamBam was, it surprisingly didn't had any guard, maybe they could find a path there that leaded to an exit. A lot of doors could be seen, mostly only allowed to staff, they walked a long way to there and no exit was found. 

" Shit!" Jeongyeon complained with a light punch on a near wall. 

They started to go back when suddenly a door opened in one of the halls, a really drunk person left a room and walked pass them lazily, Jeongyeon looked at a sign near the door and realized that it was the restroom.

_' That's it'_ He thought. 

" We can't just leave through there, right?" Sana asked like she just read his mind.

" I think we can" Jeongyeon responded with a little of hope.

" I'll see" He said opening the restroom door, Sana stayed behind since she didn't want to enter the men's bathroom. She waited beside the door facing elsewhere and with her arms crossed while Jeongyeon analyzed inside of the room. The guy noticed a window in the end of the impressively big restroom, he just remembered that it was the VIP area, it looked expensive and he thanked whoever did that place because the window looked big enough for them to pass through, with BamBam and all, the real problem was that it was on the first floor, but they had a rope and could fix that. He was about to leave the room when the door opened, he had to step back for the person to enter and apologized for almost bumping into someone, the guy eyed him and then ignored him, Jeongyeon even held his breath because he didn't want to look suspicious. He let a sigh and left the place.

It was a surprise when he entered the hallways again just to meet exactly no one out there, he clenched his fist, his heart stopped briefly when Sana wasn't in his line of sight. 

_' Where is she? '_ His heartbeat was already increasing. 

" Sana" He called in a low tone to not receive too much attention. No one answered. Maybe he was becoming emotional because he swears that he could feel his eyes getting teary when he turned to other hall and didn't find her, an indescribable loneliness afflicted his being, he was all alone and Sana was probably in danger.

" Where are you?" He whispered. A crack was heard beside him in that set of staff rooms, a door opened and he felt someone pulling his shirt as he stumbled on his feet inside of the room.

Just blackness could be seen, he searched for the light switch when he felt the person let the grip go, he didn't have to find it because the person decided to turn it on.

" Hi Jeongyeon" The person said to him. His jaw dropped, his mind froze, his heart skipped a beat of the sudden vision in front of him.

" Jeongyeon, hello" The girl said passing her hands in front of his eyes.

" N-Nayeon" He stuttered and whispered, he even considered the possibility of having bumping his head somewhere and now he was hallucinating. 

" Yes, it's me. It's been a while" She said, although she didn't seem surprised as him.

" W-what are you doing here?" Jeongyeon asked still not sure if that was real.

" I own the place" Nayeon simply said. Jeongyeon was breathing heavily now, trying to recover, he wanted to smile but something was holding him back.

" Sana..." He whispered.

" What?" Nayeon asked.

Jeongyeon wanted to ask a lot of things, it had been years he didn't see that girl and all of a sudden, she finds him literally in the middle of a hallway but, that wasn't the right time and he ignored Nayeon for a moment. She noticed that and wasn't happy about it. He opened the door to leave the room, it was a storage room.

" Where are you going?" Nayeon asked. Jeongyeon just realized how much odd it was for that girl to be there.

" I'm looking for something" He rather preferred to say that than say he was looking for Sana, it was much suspicious for Nayeon to find him like that.

" Maybe I can help you" She said also getting outside. He squinted his eyes at her.

" What are you doing Nayeon?" He asked since he doubts her.

" What? You realize that I own the place and that I know where everything is right? And this is how you treat a friend you don't see for like, three years? You're freaking me out Jeongyeon" Nayeon said not believing his suspicious. 

" It's not like I don't trust you... " He said, maybe it wasn't right to suspect someone actually trying to help him.

" Look, I saw you entering this area and imagine my surprise with that! Yes, I can see that it's weird finding each other like this but who knows? I just thought about surprising you and not making you freak out, what's wrong with you Jeong?" She retorted.

" Sorry" He said again, he was speechless after that.

" It's ok. Let's go find what you're looking for" Nayeon said already walking away.

" Shit! You're right" Jeongyeon felt a grip on his heart again because for a moment he forgot about Sana's disappearance and that wasn't good. 

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading ;)


	11. With you

 

It comes a time when memories are all that is left.

Jeongyeon griped tightly the fabric of his newly bought backpack, what is the point of doing all of that, he wondered, Sana had at least to be safe.

_' I can't believe this is happening'_ Jeongyeon thought, he felt his head starting to get dizzy for the sudden rush of emotions flooding his mind. Nayeon was near and in front of him, guiding him to places through the club like she knew what happened in every inch of it. 

" You didn't say what you're looking for" Nayeon suddenly broke the silence between them.

" Uhm?" Jeongyeon was lost in thought, Nayeon was once a huge part of his life and seeing her again made he feel, well, confused, happy, annoyed, questioning a lot, nauseous, glad to be there, angry and a plain list goes on until he can't remember what is actually the reason of it all. He just has to know if it's a good sign or not to find that girl again.

" What are you looking for?" Nayeon asked one more time.

" Sana. I'm looking for her" Jeongyeon said widening his eyes in realization. Nayeon grinned her teeth in a forced smile.

" Her? Ok, maybe she is in the main hall" Nayeon said going back from where they first met because that was the way.

" No, she was with me a minute ago" Jeongyeon said with his voice cracking in the end. Nayeon only hummed.

At that moment, in that already familiar hall where only her presence brought life to the place, Sana was confused when she again assumed her position to wait for Jeongyeon and he wasn't there yet, in her vision of course, maybe he was taking too long inside that restroom. At least was what she thought or certainly it wasn't the right decision when she earlier decided to leave her spot, she had to go to the women's restroom really quickly and because of that she got lost from the only person she could count on. Sana started to get anxious, thinking about the possibilities of Jeongyeon leaving her there and getting away.

_'He wouldn't do that'_

And of course, the chances of him getting caught or even worse, getting killed. She started fidgeting and looking uneasy at her sides as a small number of people started to pass around there and enter places. 

A buzz ran through her ears, like an unconscious warning, and Sana was about to go away from there at the moment. 

" There you are!" Jeongyeon exclaimed when he saw Sana waiting for him. He never had walked so fast in his life to get to the girl as a relieved sigh left her lips when she saw him getting closer, Sana almost freaked out with the thought of being lost and alone there. 

" Where were you?" He asked worriedly and checking if anything was wrong with her.

" I went to the bathroom really fast, sorry" She apologized and wiped a tear threatening to fall, somehow, she managed to regain her calm but her heart was still pounding so fast. Jeongyeon made a bold move and brought her closer, barely hugging her, the scare passed but he was concerned. 

" Don't ever do that again" He said harshly, Sana buried her head down, she was feeling so bad from doing that, she really thought of losing him and that was so much, too much of a bad feeling.

The two didn't really noticed how Nayeon was looking at the scene until it was too late, her presence got faded for a moment so she cleared her throat to call their attention. 

Sana widened her eyes and stepped away from Jeongyeon. 

" This is Nayeon, my friend" Jeongyeon started to introduce them, the girl smiled to Sana and showed her unusual bunny teeth, that smile was well known for Jeongyeon since she was an old friend of his. 

" I'm Sana, nice to meet you" She said trying to match the smile, the girl in front of her was pretty, she can't deny that, and she was surprised that Jeongyeon even had people that he called friends and out of nowhere one of them was there and in the middle of the plan, ok, maybe Sana was starting to overthink and that only grew when Nayeon playfully started talking with Jeongyeon, well, perhaps she was being paranoiac but Sana swears that Nayeon was trying to ignore her presence, she was staring attentively watching Nayeon and that didn't go unnoticed. 

" I think it's better if we go to my office" Nayeon suddenly said to the guy and they started walking. Sana was lost in her own thoughts for a second and stayed in her place.

" You too" Nayeon pointed at Sana and smiled again, the latter looked intensively at the girl, she had to quick her steps to match Jeongyeon that was walking a little behind Nayeon.

Nayeon's office was in the second floor so it was enough of a walk, in the middle of the path Sana lightly bumped her elbow with Jeongyeon's arms in an attempt to call his attention, so the guy faced Sana with a questioning look, they were walking side to side. 

" Who is she?" Sana quietly asked, she had some sort of lost look in her eyes, she was serious.

" She is my friend and I know her for a long time" Jeongyeon said matching the volume of the girl's voice for Nayeon not to sneak into the conversation. 

" Can we really trust her?" Sana asked just to be sure. 

" Yes, we can" Jeongyeon said and he was pretty sure of that. Sana however, wasn't.

As soon as he stopped talking, a staircase ended and they arrived at Nayeon's office, she opened two large doors and welcomed them inside her room.

" You two can sit down" She said sitting at her own chair, it sounded more like a command than a request. Nayeon placed her elbows on her desk and rested her head on her palms to eye the duo better.

" So, Jeong, what are you actually doing here?" Nayeon asked playfully, although that was just her way to speak, it bothered how his name rolled so soft out of her lips, for Jeongyeon it was nostalgic but Sana can't say the same, for her it was more like a realization, Nayeon was probably close with the guy, herself didn't feel so much of a friend for Jeongyeon, maybe Sana and him were just people that know each other from the same interest or purpose. A smile was still marked on Nayeon's lips, like a rapid reaction and a habit. Jeongyeon let a dry chuckle for much of their surprise, he was quick to eye Sana with the corner of his eye and bring his gaze back to the girl in front of them. 

" We have some business to take care with someone here" Jeongyeon answered, it was a well told lie because they had business there, but not much an agreement for both parts as a business should be. 

" Great! I can only imagine what business you have in my club and in the middle of the night" Nayeon said still smiling, she wasn't trying to increase suspicious between them but that sentence sounded a little like implying something. Jeongyeon scratched his nape thinking how to turn the tables of the situation, gaze adverting between Nayeon and the huge window that showed the city behind her.

" But anyways" Nayeon was quicker to say.

" I'm so glad you're here Jeong, really, it's been too long and now we're together again" She completed with a wide grin.

" Yes, right" Jeongyeon simply said trying to avoid any further questions, maybe he was feeling happy for seeing the girl but a thought made that happiness disappear since he reminded what they were supposed to do and that he would leave Nayeon behind right after.

Maybe they weren't meant to be together after all. 

Sana was passing her fingers slightly in an end of the chair she was, since she didn't truly feel needed in the conversation, she was trying to distract herself from the upcoming tension between both other people in that room, she wished it was her imagination picking these things in the air but suddenly Nayeon eyed her for a more than a second and that made her shiver for much unusual it was. 

" Who you said you're going to meet Jeong?" Nayeon asked returning her gaze to the guy.

" I didn't"

" Maybe I can help you"

" I doubt that" He almost mumbled.

" Is he or she in the main hall? I know everyone here so I can introduce you"

" Oh, you really don't have to, it's fine" Jeongyeon said, he was starting to get nervous.

" I want to help you" Nayeon said carelessly getting up of the chair. Jeongyeon huffed a little, he couldn't escape that without an amazingly invented explanation so he was going to stick with Nayeon and see where it leads on, however, he didn't expect Sana to look at him suspiciously, and that was pretty obvious for the way the girl squinted her eyes at him, Nayeon was already at the side of the door to be open and Sana was the first to get up and follow her, Jeongyeon was still coming up with the idea that maybe Sana didn't like that new plan at all. 

A security guard appeared through the glimmering lights of the staircase and that much startled Nayeon that was walked ahead, the guy eyed everyone and called his boss to talk silently, he whispered something to Nayeon and she threw a deadly glare, it didn't sound much of good news, she ended up gesturing to the security to leave and resumed to continue heading to the main hall with the others. 

It seemed louder than before, the sound of music blasting and pumping through their bodies, people talking not seeming to worry for who passed by them, laughs and giggles, malicious eyes of those who were supposed to be very important people, they just put each other's in that standards hoping that something bad will never happen to them as their secrets are buried in the shadows. Jeongyeon was there to change that, at least to BamBam that, in a way, took part in ruining his life. Sana was also there, focusing her bright smile to other purposes more than her own gain, they were there to fight, in a way or another and preferably together for what Jeongyeon can tell seeing Sana like that. 

He had to look elsewhere to stop thinking about her.

Nayeon fit in the scenario so well, she knew everybody and waved like the queen of the palace, people leaving their own little worlds to greet her, they seemed to unnotice that she wasn't by herself. 

" So, what's the deal?" Nayeon asked, she still smiled like a good host, or perhaps, just for a tiny moment, her smile really got through Jeongyeon and he knew that it was meant for him or for whatever feelings he once had for Nayeon. He hesitated, Sana did not. 

" We're here to see my friend BamBam" Sana announced with all the certain, two could play the trust game and she can't let Jeongyeon play alone. Nayeon smile briefly changed to a sweet smirk.

" He is a great client, I can take you two there " The older girl proclaimed showing her power above that people, like everyone there was in the palm of her hand. Jeongyeon wasn't distracted for what he could tell but he somehow missed when they started going into the direction he didn't intent to go, getting too close to the bad guys bare handed didn't seem like a very good idea.

" Wait" Jeongyeon said close to them so they could listen better, he was walking behind, both girls turned around. 

" Can I talk to you for a moment?" He said to Sana, the girl nodded, Nayeon on the other side, slowly creased one of her eyebrows.

The guy proceeded to take Sana with him, some steps further and near the sound system for their dislike, he faced her, she couldn't listen too much, it was noisy there, but she could make up the words recognize and dangerous. She shook her head not understanding correctly, he leaned closer to her ear giving up of her reading his lips. 

" I have to stay here, wait in the car, Nayeon can help me" Jeongyeon said calmly to her, he hopes she can understand but being who she is, some pieces still lacked for her to see the full picture. So, they decided to move to another place, Jeongyeon motioned to Nayeon that he would be back and like that, Sana guided him back to the hallway. 

" Do I have to leave?" She asked once they could hear better.

" Yes"

" Why? "

"He could recognize you obviously, I told you already" He beamed sounding unpleased with her question.

Sana was about to frown or throw a tantrum over him saying to not let him alone there but Jeongyeon almost tripped over her when someone pushed him from behind, Sana's back touched the wall when she stepped away, Jeongyeon's backpack slightly fell from his shoulder, he glared the person passing near them, he noticed that it was a bodyguard and that the same was going in direction of their target, the two could barely see BamBam from there, Jeongyeon could sense that something was off, a warning or maybe a sign, even a simple mistake make him wonder if the bad guys knew something.

No, that wasn't possible, he concluded. 

" I still have a bad feeling about this" Sana said looking down.

" Don't. I have everything we need" The guy fully took the backpack out of his back and opened to show her. 

" See? There is no way they can get me"

" Don't do anything stupid" She said pouting.

" I won't" Jeongyeon said, he smiled to reassure.

" I can't lose you too" Sana mumbled, he didn't hear and the girl interrupted him by standing her hand and moving her pinkie up.

" You have to promise" She said and looked serious at him, he wanted to laugh or at least chuckle but she was still going to make him promise. 

" Promise to come back safe" She completed since he was hesitating. 

" Only if you promise to go back to the car right now" He said also standing his finger. Sana smiled and intertwined their fingers to seal the promise.

" If you don't fulfill your promise you'll have bad luck" Sana warned him.

" You too"

" That's why I'm leaving now" She said nodding.

" Go and take care, I'll be right behind you" He said to Sana, the girl still had that awful feeling of her heart being crushed when he turned his back, she heard him zipping his backpack, every step he took seemed to be such a distance, so, she doesn't know what instincts brought her to do that but she started walking to him and grabbed his shirt from the back, Jeongyeon stopped a bit abruptly and clenched his backpack in his hand. 

" Don't turn around" Sana said a little embarrassed. Jeongyeon slowly nodded wondering what she was going to do. It did startle him and made his heart race when he felt her arms enveloping him in tight back hug, she was looking down with her forehead rested on his back, Jeongyeon couldn't move and wondered if she was able to feel how quick his heart was racing. He was so worried with his own that didn't think that Sana was also blushing with her action. Honestly, if she could stay in that moment she would, the last days she had little of good feelings and Jeongyeon was certainly responsible for many of them, he was more of a safe place than many people she had met, he was calm and warm compared to her excited self, he is much of a challenge for her as she is for him. Sana had to let him go anyways and not even magic could change their fate that night.   

" Good luck" She ended up saying.

" You too" He breathed out.

Then Sana unwrapped her arms from him, people were starting to look at them.

" I'll go now" Jeongyeon said still not turning around. Sana nodded but realized that he can't see it and let a low ok as he walked away. She wasn't a coward and backing away and staying out of trouble wasn't her forte but Jeongyeon was right, she can't risk him and herself with that of course, she had to go and that meant they weren't going to see each other for some minutes, nonetheless, she started to leave, through the same path from before and carefully to not call attention, she turned her back just once before going downstairs, to visualize the sight of Jeongyeon talking normally with Nayeon, he never talked with Sana like that and it made her sad that they weren't able to spent time like normal people, she turned her back again as Jeongyeon and Nayeon headed to the target. 

.

.

.

" Nayeon!" BamBam called her with a wide smile, drink in one hand and an expensive cellphone in the other, he was surrounded by people, that not even him can recall the names.

Nayeon passed through them as they opened the way, Jeongyeon right behind her, he had already explained how Sana had to leave so he was the one to take care of their 'business'.

" Hello BamBam" Nayeon greeted her faithful client with a hand shake.

" Come on, we're all friends here, give me a hug" BamBam saying pulling Nayeon closer, the girl embraced the guy, Jeongyeon looked the whole scene trying to maintain his poker face instead of punching BamBam on his snob nose.

" And who is this?" The guy sat down on his previous position on a couch and eyed Jeongyeon from head to toe, that made his blood boil even more.

" I'm Jeongyeon" He quickly answered before Nayeon could, he didn't want to reveal his last name just yet since it was dangerous to do so and could raise suspicious. Jeongyeon wanted to make sure that the guy remembered his name though, as the one who took them down and hopefully they wouldn't dare to cross paths with him again or Sana for the matter.

" Nice to meet you" The bad guy said. At that moment, Jeongyeon was afraid that Nayeon could suspect something, but he was relieved when the same security guy from earlier came and called her, leaving him alone with BamBam. Jeongyeon sat down beside the guy, pulling his backpack away and hoping to make the plan work after so much trouble.

" So, what do you want from me?" BamBam asked with a smirk, Jeongyeon narrowed his eyes to the guy, they fell in silence.

" Dude, I'm kidding" BamBam broke the intense atmosphere with a laugh, he let his drink rest in a near table to have his full attention to the other guy.

" Now really, it must have a reason to come to me" He said with a more serious tone. Jeongyeon didn't really got that part of the plan in his head, so improvisation would do.

" I was wondering if you're interested in some business with me" Jeongyeon said matching well with a serious expression, the other guy seemed to relax more with that. 

" Well, you came to the right guy them" BamBam said, he looked and waved his hand to a near employee, seconds later, a drink was brought to Jeongyeon. 

" I know, let's drink for that then" Jeongyeon said grabbing the drink and gesturing BamBam to do the same, they clicked their glasses together and drank a small sip as the intense atmosphere from before dissipated in the air. 

" What are your business Jeongyeon?" They guy asked curiously. The other adverted his eyes for just a second in thought, BamBam had let his drink down again and Jeongyeon had to make an opportunity to alter that. 

" I'm currently in the restaurant business" Jeongyeon said, well, he had been working in a restaurant so let's call it half a truth.

" And you're looking for... investors?" The guy asked, Jeongyeon seemed a little off and distracted with the subject. The latter didn't know how he suddenly became so unaware.

" Yes, that's correct" Jeongyeon said after some seconds, too many second. BamBam smirked, he got closer from Jeongyeon but the latter couldn't react, something was holding him down. 

BamBam leaned closer to his ear. 

" Now tell me, what are you really doing here?" He said in a malicious tone, Jeongyeon froze and clenched his fist, he felt when the bad guy drew a sharp knife from his pocket and that knife was being pressed on his ribs. BamBam likes to show power when he can be superior. 

" Cat ate your tongue?" BamBam asked rhetorically and with a small laugh.

"... Yoo Jeongyeon" He completed and pressed the knife even more that ripped a small hole in his clothes. Jeongyeon wanted to move but his brain wasn't answering correctly, BamBam moved away from him and grabbed his drink along with the one previously in Jeongyeon's hands.

" Hey man, relax. What's wrong with you? " BamBam said in a change of tone from his sadistic self, he gave a soft punch on Jeongyeon's shoulder. The latter sensed the world starting to drift in front of him.

_' What's wrong with me? '_ He asked himself but that quickly got answered when the bad guy set the drinks in front of him, he realized it was his mistake to take a drink in the enemies' lair. 

" Ouch, my bad, change of plans, you're going out pretty soon now, don't worry or exhaust yourself" BamBam playfully said, he tucked his knife in his pocket and leaned closer to Jeongyeon again. 

"We're going to take good care of you and especially her, I know Sana is here and she is all mine now" The guy said, Jeongyeon felt a whole new feeling of anger bursting when he heard those words, he couldn't move but he clenched his jaw and his eyes were burning with hate towards the guy. 

" We're going to have fun" BamBam completed and got up, Jeongyeon was starting to drift into unconsciousness when he saw Nayeon stepping closer and getting near BamBam, both pair of eyes watching as Jeongyeon passed out on his spot. 

Looks like he won't be able to fulfil his promise after all. 

*

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still in the learning process so please forgive any mistakes :)


	12. Friends

 

 

They drifted apart so fast, so easily. With no one to understand.

The last thing Jeongyeon remembered was thinking about Sana, his body ached, it burned, mostly his heart. He is sure it's because of something else, not so clear reasons, he knows. She was far away from him, he realizes that it was a mistake to begin with, getting alone, repeating the same error. He tried to say her name but breathed out his conscious before passing out. BamBam was grinning, Nayeon was serious, the guy suspiciously turned to her since she was staring at Jeongyeon.

" Why are you so grumpy?" BamBam asked her, slightly pushing Jeongyeon's body with his foot.

" Why are you so childish?" Nayeon retorted, she was waiting for one of her guards to take Jeongyeon from there. BamBam chuckled.

" I respect you, so you'll be quiet" He said, hand still clasped around a glass of an alcoholic drink.

Nayeon was wondering why didn't anyone show up to help them with the body, people were start to look weirdly at them. BamBam was quietly impatient seeing Nayeon still staring Jeongyeon, she was oddly concerned if he could tell.

" Oh " He let out a thought suddenly, Nayeon faintly heard and looked at him with a questioning gaze.

" You like him" BamBam said with a teasingly smile, and Nayeon thought he couldn't be dumber.

" Shut up " She said looking away, the last thing she would possibly do was admitting that BamBam was right.

.

.

.

The same moment, Sana was fortunately able to pass through the front door of the club and step outside, she noticed that there were a bigger number of bodyguards near the doors, like waiting for something, she had to master all her sneaking and distraction skills to be able to pass, that weren't much but enough. Her head was kind of dizzy after that use of her powers, the air was so cold, she had to find her path back to the car, and without Jeongyeon to lead the way, it seemed defying. So dark for a bustling city, she heard light footsteps dangerously near her, but she wasn't going to look back, remembering that it was like that that people got killed in those weird movies she likes to watch. Her magic wasn't that precise by then, she used much of it for the day, it was painful to think about using more but, it troubled her when she got near their car and she swears that someone was after her, so she turned around. Sana held her breath when seeing the bodyguards from the club going in her direction, one she recognized as he was talking with Nayeon earlier but, she wondered about why they were being so suspicious if they were supposedly on the same side. Nonetheless, she pushed that out of her mind, maybe they were just passing by, so she continued walking to the parked car, as expected, it was on the same spot that Jeongyeon left before, its back turned so she could see the street she just came from the side rearview mirror. Sana thought about entering the car, she was about to open the door of the passenger sit when a cold hand reached her arm, she squealed in surprise.

" Come with me Miss" She recognized as the same guard from earlier. He had a strong grip around upper left arm, she tried to back away but with no use.

" Why?" Sana asked, not showing how much she was concerned.

" Don't ask any questions" The guard said. She walked a step away from him but her back hit the car, other guard was behind him and blocking the way if she tried to run.

" Let me go" Sana said trying to loosen the grip, her voice was small and shaken. One turned his head to the other, and he nodded like a silent agreement. When he looked back at her, she shifted her gaze between them and noticed how they were with guns, although the thought seemed a little off, that hour Sana had an idea, maybe from fear and her brain thinking fast, if she used her magic to take their guns away, she could be able to run from there and luckily back to Jeongyeon.

With that idea she focused, the guy was checking his pockets for something, as Sana looked directly at the gun resting on the side of his waist, her eyes became a bit blurry but she slowly managed to move and lift the gun from the guy, he didn't notice because he was too busy tying her hands with a plastic zip, they were naive enough to not to know that Sana could use magic without her hands, it wasn't exactly necessary with her type of power, so, when his gun was in clear sight, she made a swipe move with her eyes and threw it away to the other side of the street, a small blue glow hang in the air from the use of her magic, she did that only with the bit of force left in her mind. The sound echoed in the vaguely lonely street, the two bodyguards were startled and turned around on the same time to look at the direction of the noise, giving Sana the chance to kick his lower parts as she weirdly ran to the other opposite direction, wrists still tied, her eyes were unfocused again and she slipped and fell on the ground, her knees hitting the sidewalk, not much distant from where she just ran from.

The guard she kicked was still on the floor and in pain, he searched for his gun since he was angry but found nothing, he cursed under his breath.

" Catch her" He scream to the other guard, that nodded and followed Sana's steps.

She was sat down and painfully hugging her knee, that was now bruised, she was biting her lip and concentrated to break the plastic zip, but it was too late and the guard was right in front of her, pointing his guns at her direction.

" Get up, slowly" The guard said, he even clicked his gun threatening to shoot her.

Sana got up for much of her disapproval, she then sighed seeing that it had no way she could get rid of that people, and she was still tied, what an unlucky day. The next thing she heard were wheels marking the road, a car passed speeding through the street and startled everyone for a moment. So, she gave a step back to run again.

" Don't you dare, you're coming with me now" The guard said as she whined.

" Turn around" He said next, she didn't know why but did it anyways, the guy was pointing a gun at her, she shivered.

" Now walk" He said coldly, she was tired and almost stumbled again.

" Faster" He said, they were heading to the club again.

And like that, they walked a little until getting near an odd side street, that was the darkest spot of the section, Sana couldn't even see her own feet correctly and her head being all messed up wasn't helping, her nose was starting to bleed again and she doesn't know why she have so many powers but doesn't even have the strength to save herself, awfully ironic. She could feel the barrel of the gun pressed against her back when they stopped.

" Don't move" The guard said, he seemed looking for something, or like he heard something. Now she was confused, why would the stop mid-way to the club. She froze for a moment, a wave of nausea invaded her, if she was in that situation far from the dangerous place, imagining what Jeongyeon must be passing through was sickening, because she was sure that if he was well, the guy would already be there saving her.

Sana took a glimpse around to see the reason of their stop but was interrupted when suddenly she felt the barrel of the gun leaving her back as the guard turn around for much of her surprise, she could run now. Two gunshots echoed, she didn't had time to react and closed her eyes as the body of the guard fell on the ground, blood sliding and staining her shoes.

" Are you ok?" A male voice came from the direction of the shot, it came from near the side street, as if it was waiting. She nodded quickly and released her breath to look at the person. She didn't know if she should run or be relieved to see the Detective Choi YoungJae there, right in front of her, he clearly saved her life, his clothes slightly teared apart on the side of his shoulder, were a little of blood slid, probably from the previous shot.

" Minatozaki Sana?" YoungJae said, hands storing his gun, he was sure that it was her ever since he laid his eyes on the girl, but he had to ask, she seemed away from the reality.

" Yes" She murmured.

" We met before, I'm Choi YoungJae" He said, then pushed the dead body away from her with his foot.

" I saw you running from this guy, we need to take you out of here before they realize you're missing" YoungJae said, he already had take care of the other guard by hitting him with the gun. He pulled out a knife and cut the zip around Sana's wrist, the gunshot still buzzed in her ears.

" How did you know I was here? " She asked while rubbing her red wrists.

" I didn't. Actually, I came here a few minutes ago, I was watching this club from my car in search for any suspect activities, it was surprising seeing you running away" Then, he turned around to walk to his car, expecting her to follow.

" Wait" Sana said, not sure if he was there to do better or worse.

" Jeongyeon" She mumbled unsure.

" Don't worry, I'll do my best to protect you from him. Now let's go to my car, the other authorities will get here soon, I already called them" YoungJae said trying to calm her.

" No" Sana said trying to suppress her tears while looking down.

_' He promised '_

" You're alright" YoungJae stepped closer to her to reassure.

" You don't understand, they are going to hurt him" Sana said, raising her voice a little.

" You're confused, calm down and let's go sit in my car to wait, we're going to find Yoo Jeongyeon"

" We need to go back now or else-" She said, she didn't want to think about the possibilities and so she turned around to walk to the club, YoungJae stopped her by walking in front of her steps, he took a glimpse of a tiny bit of blood sliding from her nose.

" Miss, you're traumatized so I ask you to stop and follow me" YoungJae said and didn't let her pass. She breathed sharply, and felt the exhaustion, she wiped the blood with her finger tips and looked away from the guy in front of her, she knew that he wasn't going to be convinced so easily.

" I forgot something important there so we have to get it now" Sana said trying to fool the guy, she already sounded desperate and she wasn't lying.

" When the reinforcements gets here we can-"

" No, it'll be too late and people are in danger" She couldn't explain the whole situation but that was her best try.

YoungJae hesitated, it wasn't like he was afraid, he passed through worst, but his gut was telling him that something was wrong and his instincts never fails. Nonetheless, he gave up seeing that the girl wasn't going to quit, she looked like a crazy person by then, well, maybe she was.

" Ok, but stay behind me" YoungJae said showing his gun and preparing himself.

They didn't have to walk all the way back, because when the side door of the place was brutally open, they could hear it breaking the silence of the night. Sana had only to take a glimpse of Nayeon's frame to know that the body being carried by a guard behind her was Jeongyeon. Nayeon looked mad and impatient, maybe because Sana wasn't there to complete the collection. They were walking towards a car parked near the place, or better, hidden in the side alley of the club.

" Here" Sana whispered to YoungJae, that clenched his gun seeing the same thing as her.

 _' What's going on here? '_ YoungJae thought, squinting his eyes to see better. He didn't recognize Jeongyeon though, not even when the body was tossed inside of the car. It was far and dark, so it wasn't his fault, he just assumed that it was one more of Jeongyeon's doings.

" Stay here" He whispered back to Sana, of course, he didn't know the help she could be if she pushed her limits a little more. But she nodded in understanding, perhaps it was better to stay behind than being a dead weight.

YoungJae took careful steps inside the alley/secret hiding place, while Sana waited around the corner and hoped for his resistance.

He saw two guys, one girl and plus the body in the back seat, all except the last one where around the car and waiting, for Sana probably. YoungJae was near the scene now, he hid behind a trash can and checked the amount of ammo he had, enough to resist if he got attacked again, so he prepared himself to show up.

" Hands up" BamBam said already by his side, like he took the words out of his mouth and YoungJae doesn't have a logical explanation to give if anyone asked about how he got caught or how the guy appeared by his side in just a mere second. Besides they two, the other guy there, that seemed to be the driver, was now pointing a gun at YoungJae, while Nayeon entered the car not seeming to care about the interaction. YoungJae clenched his jaw and was already pointing the gun at BamBam, he had a clear sight, and BamBam didn't seem to be with any guns.

" What do you want? " The latter asked, he threw a glare at YoungJae.

" I'm from the police. What's inside the car? " YoungJae asked threatful.

" None of your business" BamBam said smiling, almost playfully. YoungJae heard the driver with the gun stepping closer and now the three of them were near, YoungJae pointing his gun at BamBam's head while another gun was pointed at his own head.

Sana was looking all of that with a heavy heart, she let a whine escape her lips while she walked to there.

" Let him go" She started saying, letting her hands up like surrendering, that was a brave or stupid action.

" Princess, you're here!" BamBam happily said seeing her, it had been a while since they last talked but he can remember clearly how he used to call her.

" He is innocent" She said referring to YoungJae, that looked confused between both of them.

" Next time, take your trash out before speaking with me" BamBam said looking at YoungJae.

" What did you say-" The latter started to say but was interrupted by a blow of a gun encountering the side of his head, that would leave a bruise but he was still conscious, just stumbled to the side. Even after that, the gun was still pointed at him, the difference was that now they were further apart, he wanted to shoot but noticed that his own gun was laying on the floor and far from his reach.

" Give me the gun and prepare the car" BamBam said to the supposed driver, the guy nodded and now BamBam was the one pointing the gun to YoungJae.

" You're coming with us, this one is just heavy weight" BamBam said and made a clear shot at the detective. YoungJae didn't even had time to close his eyes as his life passed quickly in front of them, or saying better, he remembered that he didn't lock the door before leaving home and that would be his last thought if Sana didn't have stopped the bullet right in front of his nose bridge. It was so close that he could feel the heat eradiating from the object, almost hitting him.

BamBam chuckled and shot again, both bullets fell on the floor this time. YoungJae was with his mouth hanging open because that couldn't or shouldn't be happening. BamBam gave a step back and now gave a shot at Sana's direction, not even a scratch, she dodged the bullet elsewhere to hit the wall.

" Someone is stronger" BamBam said, still walking back to his car, for what he could tell by then, he couldn't beat the girl like that, her magic was superior. She was focused, her eyes dark.

" We have great plans for you" BamBam said, he opened the passenger door still pointing the gun and only stopped when he, with an unbelievable velocity, got inside of the car, almost like disappearing.

YoungJae was able to push Sana away from the path so the car passed near them in full speed. She seemed more distant than before, her eyes closed as she passed out in YoungJae's arms, he wasn't expecting for such a change of events in his discoveries.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I'll be back next year so, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!!!


	13. Heaven or Hell

 

 

Well, no one likes to be confused.  
The silent wind blew her black hair out of her eyes, Mina was sat staring the stars above her.  
It had been a struggle to convince Tzuyu to let her walk out of his lab, but after a while he allowed, although, he couldn't stand anymore of the number of tears that Mina dropped of her eyes, her cheeks were all puffy, the only thing she did the past day was sleeping and crying, well, she ate too but barely. Her pale skin still showed signs of bruises and purple spots, especially on her arms, her forehead had a slightly visible mark of the accident near her eyebrow, she saw herself in the mirror and cried even more. Even though she was now outside of the suffocating walls of the lab, her heart was still throbbing of worry, if only she had a way to contact Sana, perhaps her mind would be in more ease.

The scenario was breath taking there, she can't deny, it took her attention for just a moment, she understands why Tzuyu chose that place to live, away from everyone and with only the darkness to worry about, but the guy doesn't seem to enjoy the nature around him so much. Mina was outdoors, in a small area near the living room, since her leg is bad she still can't go upstairs but, the last day she walked around the ground floor looking for a good distraction. Tzuyu doesn't do much of a noise while walking but since there were just the two of them, Mina quickly assumed that it was him coming closer when a set of footsteps grew louder.  
" Here" Tzuyu said, standing by her side and showing her a bottle of water.  
" Thanks" Mina said with her small voice, her gaze still locked elsewhere.  
" Tsk, I don't care, I'm doing my job" Tzuyu said bitterly, Mina didn't dare to look at him.  
Soon it became silent again, Tzuyu was still there and seeming like looking for where she was so interested in seeing.  
" You cry a lot" He broke the silence after getting bored. Mina didn't answer that either, just looked down.  
" That's why I brought you water" Tzuyu completed, no life in his voice, expressionless face, for what Mina can tell at least, she hummed. It wasn't like she mattered for him, he was just keeping her alive.  
" They told me" Tzuyu suddenly said, in fact, he was with that in his mind since Mina woke up but didn't have mastered up courage or opportunity to tell her directly like the moment. That made Mina look up at the standing guy, he seemed even taller with his hands behind his back.  
" About the magic thing I mean, the other girl, Sana, she showed me and they told me what you can do" That was actually the biggest sentence that Mina had heard the guy saying the whole day.

A fine line of light came from the horizon, the sun would come up soon.  
" You're wondering why I don't use it to leave this place right?" Mina asked seeing the guy with a curious gaze. And since she really can make him drive away to find Sana.  
" Exactly" Tzuyu said squinting his eyes a little suspicious.  
" Because she said she will come back here" Mina said, her voice sounded wavering and soft, very different from when she threatened Tzuyu not so long ago, he ended up humming with the conclusion. The stars were slowly disappearing of the sky, some mixing with the sunrise that was getting brighter by then.  
" Do I have to go back to the lab?" Mina asked, she was fidgeting nervously now because she had to admit that hospitals or whatever that was, weren't her favorite places.  
" Hm, no. You can stay in the room at the end of the hallway" Tzuyu said, his own room was located in that hallway of the ground floor because despite of liking his house, Tzuyu isn't a big fan of stairs. He looked at Mina one more time, she was staring the horizon again, her side profile looking tired. After that he turned his back to walk away and go to do his tasks, leaving her alone after getting his questions answered.  
>>>>>  
The sun had already come up by then, YoungJae was mumbling something while driving fast. Sana was slow to process the situation, only when they got in front of a big hospital.  
" We can't go there" She said and held her head. She was sat on the passenger sit on YoungJae's car, the guy realized that she was now awake.  
" Why not?" He asked preoccupied.  
" They will find us" Sana said, the guy stopped the car and looked at her, for him, she was definitively bad of the head, and he is sure that that's a really good scientific explanation for the things he just saw.  
" You passed out, we're going there anyways, if they find us, the police will take care of it" YoungJae said and was about to open the door of the car. She held his arm.  
" You saw right? What they are capable of, don't tell me you're not convinced that the police can't take care of them" Sana said, she let him go and started fidgeting nervously.  
" I'll take my risks" YoungJae said, starting to think that the girl is crazy. He was about to open the door and Sana really didn't want to do that but she had to, she used a bit of magic to lock the door and turn the car on. YoungJae widened his eyes.  
" Now you believe me?" Sana said.  
" What did you do?"  
" It's magic, I have magic, they have magic" Sana said, she was tired, her head heavy, she was also preoccupied because she had no sight of Jeongyeon.  
" What? That's insane"  
" But, you just saw, you have to believe me" She said. Right then, the police radio emitted a sound and YoungJae had to take that.  
" What?" He asked to the person on the other line.  
**_*" Detective? We found the bodies, one is alive"*_**  
" Good, it was me, the other shot me first, take care of them and I want full vigilance in the club near the scene, they kidnapped someone and I think that Yoo Jeongyeon is involved" YoungJae said and put the radio back. Sana chuckled, they stared each other.  
" Jeongyeon was the one kidnapped" She said sadly.  
" ... Tell me more" YoungJae said curious.  
" He is helping me since the beginning, and now he is in trouble" Sana said looking down.  
" Helping?"  
" Yes, and he didn't kill Mark, they did, and now Jeongyeon is in trouble because of me"  
" You realize that what you're saying will make my investigation change completely right?"  
" Yes, you have to help me"  
YoungJae hesitated for a moment, he is a logical guy but magic didn't seem so impossible after seeing it several times the last hours, maybe if he helped her, she could explain better.  
" Sure, I'll help you" He said.  
" Ok, no police and no hospitals. We need go back to the safe place"  
" Safe place? Ok, guide me" He said and reached for the keys to turn the engine on again, but Sana was faster than him and the key kind of flew to her hand. YoungJae widened his eyes again, magic was amazing and weird at the same time.  
" You have to promise first, to help me and don't call the police" Sana said showing the keys. YoungJae sighed.  
" I promise that this will be kept between us" He said  
" And that we're going to find Jeongyeon and save him" She said, taking the keys away from him.  
" Yes, I agree with your terms" YoungJae said, Sana gave him the keys and they proceeded to Tzuyu's house, in the case, YoungJae still had his doubts but his instincts didn't say that the girl was dangerous at all, and he always trusts his instincts.  
   >>>>>>>  
Jeongyeon woke up with a familiar smell by his side, it smelled like the shampoo he usually wears, he buried his face on his pillow and shifted on his bed, finally, he was home.  
He got up, stretched his back, opened the windows to let the morning sunlight fill his room, he looked around and saw everything impeccably clean, even if he couldn't really decipher some things there, he preferred to shrug the concern away. The perfectly painted hallway of the apartment brightened the mood when he got out of the room, just remembering that he had to eat to continue the day, it looked like a scene of a movie were all events starts happily and brilliant as it ever will be. Jeongyeon fixed his hair without even looking at the mirror and realized that he actually doesn't know what he was going to do that morning, a quick thought of confusion came inside his mind and maybe he wasn't supposed to feel that way in such a beautiful day. Just when the smell of burning food encountered his senses that he got out of trance, that meant that she was cooking again and it wasn't a good sign since Jeongyeon know her deeply and never saw the girl making a meal without making a fuss. He rushed his steps to get in the kitchen, as known as the place where that girl couldn't enter without supervision, and he shook his head seeing her fighting with the flames of the stove, oh, she was so stubborn.  
" What are you doing?" Jeongyeon asked, a bit annoyed.  
" Cooking" She responded, holding a frying pan with burned eggs and throwing it anywhere near the sink.  
" No, you're not" Jeongyeon teased, walking to her to see the full damage of his precious kitchen. He wanted to be mad at the number of things which she was able to stain the counters with and the sink, but he ended up sighing.

" Nayeon, why didn't you wake me up?" Jeongyeon asked trying to wipe away the mess.  
" I was really hungry and... I wanted to surprise you" She said with a wide grin, he looked at her matching the expression even though he wanted to laugh because she looked like a crazy girl with her apron a bit stained, her hair messy and still holding another pan. He stepped closer to her.  
" You didn't have to, go order something for now" Jeongyeon said taking away the pan and placing in the sink. Nayeon was trying to take off the apron, he noticed that.  
" You look stupid" Jeongyeon said, earning him a smack on the shoulder, Nayeon pouted.  
" Mean. Help me" She said opening her arms, he came near her and hugged her waist to reach her back and undo the knot of the apron, while she wrapped her arms around his neck. Jeongyeon was successful and the apron slowly fell on the floor, then he proceeded to look at Nayeon, that smiled widely.  
" Thank you" She said and gave a peck on his lips, he smiled as well, then she unwrapped her arms and stepped back.  
" I'm going to order because I'm starving, clean the kitchen please" Nayeon said and walked away.  
" Hey, you did the mess and I have to clean?"  
" Yes" Nayeon shouted from the living room.  
Jeongyeon shook his head and looked around, he actually was able to find something edible there, none of Nayeon's doings of course, but an apple, the only thing Nayeon didn't touch so he thought that it was safe to eat.  
Jeongyeon washed the apple and sat down to ease his hunger, the order might take a while so that was going to be his breakfast. He scanned the mess again and sighed, actually, it was more like an instinct, like his actions were weirdly calculated that morning and he wonders why, and how it felt so unnatural he to be sitting there staring at an apple. Maybe it was. He checked the calendar in the wall near him and saw that it wasn't marked with anything, it was strange, the calendar was simple, white and clean, showing only the numbers of months and days along with the year, but he recalls that he never had seen that thing before and he swears that his previous calendar was something related to a girl group his friends liked a lot. Wait, the thought seemed off.  
_' Which friends? '_ Jeongyeon wondered, finally giving a bite on the apple. If he would say, he clearly remembers someone named Jinyoung almost screaming of happiness when Jeongyeon was able to win the limited girl group calendar for him.  
" Jinyoung..." He said out loud to see if he can relate that name with anyone.  
" Who is Jinyoung?" Nayeon's voice came from his back and surprisingly the girl was behind him.  
"I... don't know" Jeongyeon answered whispering to himself.  
" What's wrong with you?" Nayeon asked sitting by his side.  
" You're weird today" She said, grabbing the apple of his hand since he seemed lost in thought.  
" Did we have another calendar?" He asked.  
" No, why?"  
" Nothing"  
Nayeon hummed and bit the apple, or better, his breakfast.  
" Do you have work today?" She asked passing the fruit back to him.  
" Work?"  
" Yes, work... Your restaurant? Are you going there today?" Nayeon asked. Jeongyeon hesitated, not so sure about how to answer, but suddenly he felt his head a bit heavy and dizzy, just for a moment he felt like going back and forth into reality.  
" Jeongyeon?" Nayeon asked wondering what was happening.  
" Sorry. Yes, I'll work today" He said because now he is certain that he has to work at his restaurant, he doesn't even know how he could forget or not realize that earlier, like he didn't have the information before but now he is sure about it. Nayeon saw his eyes showing a bit of confusion and cupped his cheeks for him to look at her, Jeongyeon was startled for a moment but then she softly kissed him and his heart ached, even if it was a quick peck, he felt like his body was trying to tell something that his brain was failing to process.  
" I'll go now" He said and quickly stood up from the chair to get ready to work. And not just that but walking through the apartment, he noticed how it seemed so quiet as he was more used with noises.  
.  
.  
.  
The day passed so fast, he couldn't count the time, seeming like a spinning cycle of infinite seconds but in the same time felt like time itself bent to jump for where he was now. Outside of the apartment, one of his hands was holding the doorknob when he realized how long he was standing there. Not sure what made him stop or even how much time he took to walk to there, the day in work still passed like a dream in his mind.  
He put the keys in his pocket and shrug the confusion off to twist the doorknob and be greeted by his girlfriend, Im Nayeon.

Every day is like that, he gets home from work just after her so she is already waiting for him to do the dinner or sometimes he brings the dinner with him. Nayeon got up from the comfortable couch when Jeongyeon appeared at the living room, hands full with bags that held their food, she greeted Jeongyeon with a kiss on the cheek and practically ran to unwrap the bags and finally eat. He sighed and since he wasn't hungry, he told her that he was going to lay down a little, since she was busy eating, Nayeon nodded as he skipped to the bedroom.  
Jeongyeon's heart was heavier than ever, like he was doing something not right or meaning to be in another place than stuck there in his bedroom. Stuck, he wonders.  
_' Since when am I stuck? '_ He asked himself, because it felt like it. The feeling enveloped his heart and suffocated his thoughts, he felt helpless for no reason, in fact, that life was all he could ask for, he has a house, a girlfriend, a job he likes and a successful business but, there is always something, and he was dying to know what it is. His head felt heavy again and it was like something was forcing him to push that confuse thoughts away and make him forget what he is looking for in the mess his mind was creating, it flashed all over again, microseconds of lost memories, laughs he had never heard, a girl with the most flashy eyes and amounts of spilled blood he had never seen before appeared in front of him like a magical illusion, it was sickening and freeing, like the universe made sense, he wanted to scream about how much he misses her even though he can't remember who she is. Jeongyeon was previously sat on the edge of his bed but the strength of what was happening made him fall with his back hitting the bed and he grip his hair tightly, it felt like going insane.  
" What's happening with me?" He asked and it echoed, everything went black and he can't remember where he is and why he is there but one thing he knows, there is definitely something terribly wrong with him.  
*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha...


	14. Mentality

 

 

Many things were yet to be explained. They did have an incredible persistence after the past difficulty events to keep going and living. Or better, wanting to live. If losing someone makes our own lives seem weak, fragile and sometimes even unbearable, imaging how it would feel to lose everyone it's simply enough, too much. Losing the meaning of the world and even life. For Sana, she obviously didn't want to lose anything, her life, her friends, her parents, but it fell so easily, faded away like it never existed, her expectations and hopes, her dreams and happiness, she sometimes thinks it's all her fault, people were suffering for her, every minute that Jeongyeon said to her that it will be fine she actually believed and with all her strength, she imagined about getting out of there after losing her parents, because, she discovered things, she met people and helped them with her magic, it was great to think about having a life after so much trouble.

For Mina, she can tell that the drastic changes couldn't be controlled by her, she loved control, but she could do nothing to change the reality, just protect the ones she loves with all her being, the ones that last anyways, and since Sana's parents were probably dead, she only had the girl to take care off, that made her concerned because she doesn't even know where Sana is. It was hard but at least she still had Tzuyu looking after her in his so twisted way, that kept her going.

For Jeongyeon, he just didn't want to lose his mind. Not in the moment his world crashed, not in the moment he felt his heart racing every time he thinks too much about Sana, not even in the moment when he is facing death itself and doesn't know how to react. His mind was like what it lasted in his being to stand up and fight, for her, for himself, for them, and that includes Mina and the little Chaeyoung, even Tzuyu for the guy being good enough to take care of them. It mattered so much to keep living, he had all those people waiting for him, and even if he didn't have, it still mattered to keep everyone safe, he is this type of guy after all.

Jeongyeon finally opened his eyes for a dream that seemed to last a life time. The room was so bright that he had to close them again.

" You're awake" Nayeon's sweet voice echoed in the silence.

Jeongyeon quickly looked up and saw her near the door, admiring her newly made nails and with a grin on her lips. The guy looked down to see a rope wrapped around his ankles, he was sat in an uncomfortable metal chair, hands behind his back and red wrists from the force he was now pulling the rope trying to get rid of it, arms tied to keep him still. 

" What did you do with me?" Jeongyeon asked bitterly to the girl. She looked in concern at him and stepped closer, sitting in a dusty couch in the side of the room. The place looked like an abandoned house, he could see the front door, the bright light came from the sun that passed through the window and was getting right on his eyes, he shifted in place.

" You got out of there easily, I'm impressed" Nayeon said smiling at him. It annoyed him so much, he doesn't understand the situation.

 _' What is she doing here? Why am I tied up? Is she evil? Is she working with them? Wait. Who are them? What am I thinking?'_ Jeongyeon thought, shaking in place to try to get rid of the rope holding him. 

" No, I don't believe I'm evil. And yes, I'm working with them, but I think you don't remember who them are" Nayeon said getting up, she walked around and looked out of the window near Jeongyeon. 

" What? How?" The guy asked. Nayeon chuckled. 

" It's my amazing power. I can really mess your brain and read your thoughts" She said touching his temple.

" What did you do with me? What am I doing here? Why can't I remember?" Jeongyeon asked, he didn’t want to cry but tears were already slipping from his eyes to slide down his cheeks. 

" How did I get here?" He weakly said. Clarifying, he remembers Nayeon, yes, he remembers magic and no, he doesn't remember Sana. In fact, the last memory running in his brain was a big explosion outside a house and a lot of glass shattered on the ground, the rest were just flashes and shadows. He sees people but doesn't recognizes anybody, he at least feels that they're important.

" Nayeon, what's going on?" He asked. All his memories were screwed up, mixed and sealed.

" You're here because I want to" She said.

" But why?" Jeongyeon said, he was slowly tearing up again. Nayeon sighed.

" We're friends Jeongyeon, why don't you trust me?" Nayeon asked, pain showing on her eyes.

" I'm the one tied up here and without a damn answer! Why can't I remember?!" He asked shouting.

" You can remember but just if I want to. Don't worry, you didn't lose anything, it's all locked up safely deep in your mind" Nayeon said, then she tiredly sat on the couch again.

" We can be together now" She said smiling again. Jeongyeon looked up at her and glared.

" We're not friends, you're crazy!" He said, his glistening tears falling on his clothes.

" No, I'm not, I'm in love" Nayeon said cheesily. Jeongyeon tightened his fist in anger, for more that it hurt his wrists. He looked down at his feet, doing the best to remember something.

" Stop trying" Nayeon said. He didn't listen to her and continued.

" I said stop! " She shouted at him, that made a sharp pain pass through his head and he screamed. Nayeon got up in worry and walked quickly to in front of him.

" I'm so sorry, I didn't want to hurt you" She said cupping his cheeks.

" Don't touch me" He said shaking his head.

" Jeong, you don't get it now but I'm doing this for us" Nayeon said, in her mind his rejection was hurting her.

" Us? There's no us" He said abruptly.

" For now. But you saw right? How beautiful it could be if we got together, and how perfect we are" Nayeon said smiling, she held his cheeks again, he was all tied and couldn't do a thing. 

" Stop" He said.

" I love you Jeongyeon" Nayeon said making sure that he was looking at her. He kept quiet.

" Sorry if I left you before, it had a long time we don't see each other but I had business to take care before coming back for you" She said. He still remembers when Nayeon disappeared from his life, they were like best friends for a while and then they were nothing when the girl went away without saying goodbye. He was involuntary invaded by the memories of the good times he had with Nayeon.

" Stop messing with my head" Jeongyeon said angrily.

" Don't cry" Nayeon said wiping the drying tears of his cheeks.

" You'll forget her soon, and it will be like you never met her or this mess you got yourself into" She completed. Jeongyeon froze and felt his heart griping, he was trying to reject all the thoughts but still, Sana came into his mind, or better a girl came into his sight, light all over her like it only react with her being and she was amazing, magical, astonishing, he doesn't know how to describe when he remembered her, it simply made sense, everything that was suppressed.

" What did you do with her?" Jeongyeon asked in anger. Nayeon clenched her jaw, now he remembers.

" How did you?... It doesn't matter, she will be dead after all" Nayeon said stepping back a little. Jeongyeon was now looking angrily at her.

" Where is she?!" He half screamed and pushed his wrists tightly against the rope.

" I don't like lying to you Jeong. We don't have her yet, but I'm making sure that the bitch won't find you again" Nayeon said rolling her eyes.

" Don't talk about her like this! Why are you doing this?!"

" Because I can and I want to save you from her Jeong. She is making a fool of you, she doesn't love you" Nayeon looked down sadly and grabbing tightly at the hem of her shirt. 

" Shut up!" He said making her look at him in pain, now Nayeon had her eyes full of tears.

" Stop Jeong, she doesn't deserve you"

" You know nothing about us" He said, head down staring his own feet, avoiding Nayeon's gaze that was perforating.

" There is no us between you with her, it never had, it will never be. I can see inside your head, you like her, no, you think you do but she is blinding you and I can make you see again" Nayeon said in the sweetest voice she had, seeming small to her own frame as she looked down. 

" Shut up" Jeongyeon said more harshly. He then felt a pressure inside his head, Nayeon was still there and seeing everything, every moment, not even one tiny second escape Nayeon's power and like that, Sana was being drawn and pushed to deep inside his head, the girl seemed to fade, his many emotions were getting in the way and leaving marks, but it wasn't enough, Jeongyeon was making efforts to keep it while Nayeon was suppressing his thoughts. The latter did her best, but her magic isn't that strong, not enough to fight what he was feeling and like that she gave up her mind playing to have a proper conversation. 

" You don't love her" Nayeon started saying. Jeongyeon felt when she left his mind, a relieving sensation of freedom.

" You just did things for her because you needed to" Nayeon said clenching her fist.

" You don't know that" Jeongyeon said glaring at her.

" I know Jeong, I was inside of your head, I could see everything. You think you love her but it'll pass" Nayeon, she rested her head on her palms to stopped herself from crying. Jeongyeon became quiet. 

" That's right, even you can't deny it, love born in a crisis don't lead people anywhere, it disappears after a while, like it never happened, like a dream" She said, it sounded ironic coming from her mouth, Nayeon sat down on the floor in front of him, she was feeling a bit tired for being inside of his mind for too much time.

" What do you know about love? You tied me up!"

" For your own good"

" I hate you" Jeongyeon breathed out.

" And I love her, like I never loved you and never will" He said bravely, Nayeon had her head down and tears started to fall from her cheeks.

" She poisoned you, I'm going to make you forget her so we can be happy and she will be gone"

" You won't lay a finger on her, she is stronger than you"

" Shut up Jeong, she is going to die " Nayeon wiped her tears away and stood up, well, messing with other's people brain can mess with your own.

" You know nothing Nayeon" Jeongyeon said with a smirk mixed with drying tears.

" Sana will find me" Her name rolling out of his lips like that, it made Nayeon sick. He said it with a victorious grin, Nayeon bit her lip in anger and her eyes were on fire.

" Go to sleep again" She walked to him and patted his head, like that, Jeongyeon's mind rested as he fell in a dark dream again, Nayeon wasn't going to make him have illusions like she did before, but she was trying hard to suppress especially the memories of the last days, he fought bravely.

 >>>>>>

Noon, for the sun that shined bright and the heat invading the road. YoungJae taking mental notes about all the streets they passed, he was sure to remember it later. Sana was worried, taping her fingers on the door of her car, she eventually drifted into tiredness but kept up until getting at Tzuyu's house. 

It was all closed when they knocked on the door, for what YoungJae heard, Tzuyu seemed to open a lot of locks before facing both of them on the doorstep.

Sana just shook her head when Mina asked about Jeongyeon, the girl was sat on the couch and Sana sat with her, her eyes did seem hurt, her own soul was shattered into pieces. 

" We'll find him" Mina whispered near her ear between a comforting hug. 

" I can't lose him too" Sana only said before starting crying, she had to do that and release every feeling she was holding in. 

Mina scooted closer to her, even with her hurt leg, she motioned Sana to rest her head on her lap, she kept seeing Sana crying and started along, Mina's eyes were all red when she passed her hands through the other girl's hair to calm her down. Sana cried to sleep, at least she was resting. Mina didn't want to move from there and stood by her side all the time. 

The guys checked the house while that, just to make sure. Tzuyu asked as many questions as YoungJae asked him and they seemed to be on the same page of conclusion. The hours passed fast, the detective was quick to absorb information, that was a useful trait remarking the situation they were on. At the moment, the afternoon seemed to last long, the two guys walked back to YoungJae's car since the latter said he had to go back to the police as they all agreed to keep silent about the latest discoveries.

" Keep me informed" YoungJae said passing his phone number to Tzuyu, the latter nodded and the other left after that, YoungJae sprinted from there and his presence faded away.

Tzuyu looked around before entering his house again, eyes dark like cold stones, face not showing an expression, not even worry or sorrow, no need to say of understanding for those girls. He found himself staring when seeing both Mina and Sana now awake and scrambling through papers while drawing weird images, they looked restless.

" What is this?" He asked glancing both of them.

" A magical barrier" Mina said, she was struggling to drawn while Sana mumbled some words and the papers started glowing.

 _' Smart'_ Tzuyu thought, he didn't want to say that out loud. 

" We can't have they finding us here, so we're making this effort to keep us safe" Mina completed, Tzuyu crossed his arms and watched, that was starting to bug her, his piercing gaze.

" Take it and put around the house" Mina said and handed him a bunch of papers that Sana had already enchanted, the latter was quietly discrete with her focus on magic.

" You're a terrible artist" Tzuyu said analyzing the poorly made magic circles by Mina, they glow a tone of green and blue, Sana's signed mark, although, she would always say that pink was a better color, that doesn't come into case when she is trying to save their lives but Sana being her, well, it always come into case.

" I don't have to be a good drawer to do this" Mina retorted and handed him other paper. 

" This won't start flying if I put out there would it?" Tzuyu asked wondering, he could hear Sana humming.

" No, it's magic. Go do your work" Mina said trying to sound not so annoyed, but that wasn't a good explanation, not even a simple one. In fact, it was better to enchant papers when doing that kind of spell since they instantly combusted right after activated, they would all activate when placed properly, if she would do directly on the ground it would leave marks and it was better not to. 

" You're the one that can't draw a straight line" Tzuyu mumbled, he was blunt to know that Mina wasn't pleased by his presence.

" It's a circle, it's not supposed to be straight"

" Remember me, why did I save your life?"

" Because you can't deal with Chaeyoung" Mina quickly said, not even minding to look at the guy. Tzuyu breathed sharply to contain himself.

" Just give me the stupid papers" He said taking it out of her hand, then he stepped out of that room already tired of Mina. Sana observed the guy getting further away.

" What was that?" She asked curious.

" Nothing"

" It's hard to see you this mad Mina"

" I'm not mad, it's the stress"

" I'm pretty sure that he is stressed too"

" Yes, he probably is always stressed then"

" It's not easy to take care of others" Sana said, she was sat on the carpet of the room and stretched her back to get up.

" He is annoying" Mina mumbled more to herself.

" I can see that" Sana said smiling a bit. Mina was looking down to the papers and with her face hidden behind her black hair, she was focused and distant at the same time, Sana often wondered about how her friend could be so immersed in her tasks, herself can say that she is distracted easily by almost everything.

" This is the last one" Mina said handing the paper to Sana, the latter put it on the near table and extended her hands above it, closed her eyes and did her best to release a good amount of magic to enchant the circle, maybe it was too much because her head started to spin and Mina had to hold her in place to keep her straight. 

" What's wrong? " Mina asked.

" Nothing" Sana said not to worry her more, then the girl took her hand above the paper to let it glow the same bluish green, it was ready.

" Blood" Mina mumbled, then Sana felt, the warm liquid descending her nose little by little, she whined and put her hand above it, to sit down by Mina's side and keep properly placed to stop the blood from running.

" Where's Tzuyu when we need him? " Mina said, she couldn't get up or run to bring tissues, she felt useless and frowned.

" It's ok, it stopped" Sana said behind her hand that was still securing her nostril, indeed, the bleeding stopped but they still didn't know why it started.

" I need to rest, that's all" Sana said with a brief smile, Mina knowingly nodded, the other girl was insistent in the matter of not worrying too much. Mina adjusted herself to Sana to sit better, both girls rested on the couch to turn the Tv on and take their minds out of magic for a bit.

After some minutes, their protection was ready, it was Mina's idea since the bad guys kept locating them, a magical barrier could stop a tracking spell and that barrier they made was a good one, they both used their powers but with mostly Sana using her magic, Mina's seemed to fail for a while, because of that Sana had to support herself somewhere to not to fall when she got up, maybe it was too much, the efforts she made were getting into her rapidly, more than before, that barrier had to work or else it will be all in vain.

.

.

.

As for finding Jeongyeon, well, they don't even know how to start. With YoungJae searching and the three of them making efforts to avoid being find, two days passed with rush and now they had to regain strength and rest.

That night, Sana was walking around the house alone, similar with what she did in Chaeyoung's house, walking and touching things to see how they work. Tzuyu had a good amount of dog pictures but weirdly no dog around. Suddenly she remembered that now she can't find Jeongyeon around there to surprise her like he did the other time, so she gave up and searched for Mina, it was better than being alone, she felt lost and unsure, sometimes it plays in her mind when he promised to come back safely, now she is waiting and working to find him in that maze of locations were Nayeon should be, doing God knows what with the guy. 

She silent walked into Mina's room, just to see the girl sleeping, it was around midnight by then, Sana is glad that her friend is there and not much harmed, Mina is the reason she didn't lost hope in getting out of that trouble or even finding Jeongyeon, whatever that meant. She was about to turn around and leave the room when Mina shifted in place and looked at her. 

" Sana?" The girl asked rubbing her eyes, the other nodded.

" What are you doing here?" Mina slowly got up and sat on the bed.

" I was looking around" Sana mumbled.

" Can't sleep? Come here" Mina patted the place beside her and stretched her arms. 

" My room is kind of cold" Sana lied and sat with her, placing her head on Mina's shoulder.

" You're worried, aren't you?" Mina said, she knew better. Sana nodded. 

" About Jeongyeon right? "

" Yes, they can be hurting him"

" I think they need him to find us so he isn't dead, we're going to find him" Mina said, Sana hummed and looked down, they stood in silence for a while. Mina wasn't the type of being positive like that but she had to be, for Sana.

" Do you love him?" Mina suddenly asked, Sana almost chocked on the air.

" W-what? I don't have to love him to worry about him, aren't you worried too? Does that mean you love him? " Sana said quickly, Mina grinned at her.

" You're embarrassed, not even Mark could make you like this" Mina said pointing at Sana's reddish cheeks, the latter covered her face with her hands. 

" Stop" Sana whined. Mina chuckled.

" He can take care of himself" She said.

" I know, but... They're evil"

" Yes, they are" Mina said sighing.

" You can stay here if you want" She suggested.

" Thanks" Sana said dropping her body on the bed.

" Go to the other side, my leg needs space" Mina said pushing the other girl.

" Oh, I almost forgot, I can fix your leg" Sana said getting up quickly.

" Aren't you tired?" Mina asked to make sure.

" No, it's ok" Sana moved to face the girl and sat on the floor to hold her hurt leg since Mina was sat on the edge of the bed.

" It will hurt a bit" She warned and placed both hands on the cast securing the injury. Mina nodded and held tightly the fabric of the sheets on the bed.

The type of process of healing that Sana often uses started slow and gradually takes care of minor injuries but, she could boost it to make last for bigger injuries but she never tried in broken bones before and Mina knows that is risky, a lot of magic is necessary to heal, that kind of thing is almost never used and Sana had to find strength to keep her powers going. Mina closed her eyes and waited for the pain to come but seconds passed and nothing happened. 

" Wait" Sana mumbled weakly, Mina opened her eyes and was met by the other girl suddenly falling on the ground, her hands were still glowing when she fell into unconsciousness. Mina didn't know what could happen if Sana pushed herself too much, if she was much tired she couldn't force herself to use magic.

" Stupid" Mina mumbled panicking a bit as Sana didn't respond to the tries of waking up.

" TZUYU!" Mina screamed the loudest she could, she called his name three times before the guy appeared near the door and looking angry at her.

" What?" He asked getting in the room but rushed inside seeing Sana on the floor.

" What happened?" Tzuyu asked getting the unconscious girl in his arms. 

" I don't know" Mina said gripping the girl's hand on her own.

They couldn't deal with more problems.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i think Nayeon is crazy here, but I like her power :)


	15. Positive

 

 

There was this one scene that kept playing in his head. A flash of a light reflecting on the window of his car, a sonorous explosion leaving the barrel of a gun, a dead body in an alley. Jeongyeon noticed a voice, the presence of other people, what looked distorted before was getting clearer and brighter even for that terribly dark moment, he could see the back of the shooter and Mark's red hair mixing with blood, the pouring liquid naturally spilled on the guy's clothes, he could see it all, even the way Mark's breath was uneven and the smirk of the shooter when he faced Jeongyeon, the latter widened his eyes, the other guy was wearing a black cap but the movement of his head and his fixed gaze as he looked at Jeongyeon made an impact in his memory, that face couldn't be forgotten. He didn't move, clenched his jaw and was about to bust out of there to find his phone and call the police but unexpectedly, a flashy object appeared in the guy's hand, and along with the gun, he pointed it to Jeongyeon, like that, without saying a thing, he shoot, not the gun but the perversely made spell to make Jeongyeon forget what he just saw. The confusion was meant to be, that moment had to be forgotten, by that, plans started and by that plans could be ruined.

Throbbing thoughts, Jeongyeon doesn't understand how it happened but the memory only played until the part were the shooter released a spell for the reality to fade. The meaning still a mystery. For now, he was still sleeping, but conscious of his state, and yet, he got back to that alley more times to see that same scene, he can't ever forget that again. Maybe it was Nayeon, manipulating, to put fantasy and hide the facts, or perhaps it wasn't, because there was no reason she would mess more with that.

Her powers were complicated even to her, a blessing she likes to say, although she can only do the first 'access' to the mind when people are unconscious, it comes in handy when she is working with BamBam and his evil cult. These powers somehow were able to accidently, Jeongyeon assumes, unlock the memory trapped by a spell, if that makes sense, and now he can see who killed Mark, there was only one problem, he doesn't know who that person is.

.

A splash of cold water hit his face, BamBam was smirking when Jeongyeon opened his eyes that night, a bucket in his hand.

" I'm bored" BamBam said like it mattered, he dropped the now empty bucket near his feet. Jeongyeon shook his head to get rid of the cold dripping water while the other guy stared him attentively.

" What do you want?" Jeongyeon asked serious.

" I'm here because... I don't need a reason to be here, you're my prisoner, and Nayeon isn't around so I'm here"

" Cut the crap"

" Someone is mad" BamBam said, slightly shaking his shoes that got wet with the water.

A gush of wind passed the window near Jeongyeon, the water didn't help, he clenched his jaw trying not to shiver, he looked out at the open window, the sky was ironically pretty.

" We need you" BamBam said calling his attention.

" You're bait now" He explained.

" You didn't find her" Jeongyeon wondered out loud.

" Kind of, she is slippery, dumb but lucky"

" Shut up, don't talk about her, you have no right" Jeongyeon said, his blood was boiling by then but he noticed something, the bad guy was different from Nayeon, he wasn't playing with words and actually answering, Jeongyeon had to hold his breath trying to maintain his calm and logically get his questions answered. Although, BamBam knew what he was doing, he let a loud laugh hearing that.

" Oh my, and you're the one that doesn't know her, yes she is dumb and childish, I know her, you just met her a minute ago, Sana... She is powerful, I can see" BamBam said mockingly.

" You're funny" He completed wiping an invisible tear of laughing. Jeongyeon contained himself from trying to jump from that chair to choke the other guy, by then he was shivering of cold.

" Isn't a coincidence you know... You're a part of this" BamBam said more serious. Jeongyeon didn't react, he didn't need to.

" Don't you wanna know? …" BamBam said in an attempt to tease him.

" I know who killed that guy, Mark, and why he was killed... You just need to ask kindly and I'll tell" BamBam said smirking. Jeongyeon stared him and squinted his eyes in curiosity.

" What do you want?" He asked calmer.

" I said kindly" BamBam was staring his watch and tapping his foot on the floor. Jeongyeon kept his mouth shut.

" See, actually, I can't tell who killed Mark anyways, you have to figure out by yourse-" BamBam was interrupted by a creaky noise and adverted his eyes to the door just to see a confused Nayeon with a tray of food in her hands.

" What are you doing?" She asked to the younger guy.

" I was... Passing by" BamBam said, if he had a person to fear, it was Im Nayeon and she wasn't even his boss, more like a special resource.

" And now you're going out" She said opening more of the door for him.

" Bye Jeongyeon and good luck" BamBam quickly walked to the door.

" And remember, every dead person had a purpose to fulfill as same as they had a reason to be killed" BamBam shouted already out of the sight, afraid of getting scolded by Nayeon. The girl had other things to think, she as more distracted with the shivering Jeongyeon, and the latter was distracted with the amount of thoughts running his mind with these last words, he didn't notice when the girl pulled a chair and sat near him with the tray of food on her lap, he was staring at the ground, his chest hurt, maybe it was from the ropes wrapped tightly around him.

" You need to eat" Nayeon said, she started to take the slightly wet hair out of his face, Jeongyeon looked tired and unaware, she slid her hands a bit down and they were warm compared with his cold cheeks, that were losing life, he looked away feeling her touch. Nayeon slowly retracted her hand and looked down.

" I'm here to feed yo-"

" Leave me alone" Jeongyeon said, for hungrier that he was, pretending that Nayeon was a bearable presence would hurt more. For that he felt a strain of pain inside his head, like someone was trying to push needles in his brain.

" Stop" He groaned, but it didn't.

" Just stop!" He said again but louder, the girl was biting her lip in worry.

" Sorry, I can't control when I get angry" She said embarrassingly chucking in the end.

" I didn't mean to hurt you" She said starting to pick some food to him.

Jeongyeon wanted to laugh, perhaps he was going insane, that girl talked nonsense but that was the biggest one.

" Kill me already, they're not going to give up" He said sighing.

" No!" Nayeon suddenly lost her calm.

" We're meant to be together Jeong, don't you dare to give up" She shouted getting up, the tray dropping and splashing food on the ground. He looked at her and sighed again, she was horrified while looking at the spilled food.

" Sorry, I'll get more" Nayeon said picking the tray of the ground, she was about to go away.

" You said..." Jeongyeon said almost whispering, that made the girl turn back at him.

" That you don't mean to hurt, but I don't understand why are you hurting me like this" Jeongyeon said like he was defeated.

" You said you love me" He completed, exhausted, he looked down to his feet.

That words hit Nayeon like a bullet piercing her chest.

" But, I'm helping you" She said certain of what she was doing, Jeongyeon looked up at her and shook his head.

" You're killing me" He said, teary eyes that were more sad than angry.

" No, this is the only way to get you alive out of this, they just need her for now, I have a deal with them, they promised to not to kill you" Nayeon said, she walked back at him and sat on the chair again.

" Can you close the window please?" Jeongyeon asked indicating with his eyes. The girl did that and got back to him.

" What kind of deal?" He asked sounding more patient. This time Nayeon was the one that sighed, she couldn't lie to him.

" When I discovered about you, I told them that I would do anything to get you alive of here... They made the plan and told me where to be, to attract you. They said it was unavoidable to hurt you but I'm here to keep you alive. They just need her now" Nayeon explained.

" And why do they need Sana?"

" To kill her, but it's not that easy"

" Why?"

" I don't know Jeong, I'm with them for about two months now but they don't tell me"

" Ok, thank- WAIT, WHAT? TWO MONTHS? BUT YOU SAID YOU'RE WITH THEM BECAUSE OF ME" Jeongyeon suddenly raised his voice in surprise. Nayeon flinched a bit.

" Yes, that's the plan"

" Woah, what?"

" They need you Jeong"

" Yeah, to get Sana" He said already quickly and frightened.

" No, they could get her without you"

" SO WHY THE FUCK DO THEY NEED ME?" He shouted angrily .

" I-I don't know"

" What!?Don't lie to me!"

" I'm not!" Nayeon also raised her voice, one more time Jeongyeon groaned in pain as he felt her powers inside his head. She cupped his cheeks while he closed his eyes to prevent a scream.

" Then, let me go" He said breathlessly.

" I can't, you'll die"

" I don't fucking care, there are people I need to save"

" You're more important"

" No, Nayeon, that's not what I meant, there are also people that I want to protect, important people that helped me" Jeongyeon said almost pleading to make her understand.

"... You mean her" Nayeon said, her eyes showed an evil look, her expressions darkened.

" Not just her, but yes, she needs more help, everyone is chasing her, you have to understand"

" No, she is the one who have to pay, it's her fault that every bad thing is happening, it's because of her and her stupid powers that everyone is in danger!" Nayeon shouted.

" It's not her fault, she didn't ask for this, she could help you, you're not thinking right Nayeon" Jeongyeon said trying to explain or at least convince her.

" STOP TALKING ABOUT HER! " She screamed back, a white glow appeared on her hand as she threateningly pointed it at him.

" How many times I'll have to erase her from your thoughts?" She said stepping dangerously closer, the glow graciously circulated his head.

" Listen to me, you don't have to do this" Jeongyeon said looking serious and right at her eyes, she stopped for a moment but showed no mercy, her hand touched his head.

" I won't forget" Jeongyeon said, more a reminder to himself and a warning for Nayeon, then he drifted away to sleep again, as Nayeon broke down in tears right in front of him.

  >>>>>>>>>

The next morning, Sana was near the door of Tzuyu's house, looking at the road as a car slowly approached. Mina was busy, Tzuyu left for work, so Sana was the one in charge of greeting YoungJae that hour, as they expectantly thought about the next step.

The detective waved his hand from afar as he already had parked his car, Sana lazily waved back as she rubbed her eyes, sleep had come as like a brick hit her head the other night and so she was internally struggling to keep herself up.

" Hello Miss Sana" YoungJae said as he stood near her, laptop in one hand as the other had a bunch of files.

" Good morning, come in" Sana opened the way to him and he proceeded to the living room, he placed the things on a table and sat down, Mina just got into the room as Sana closed the door of the house.

" Is this?" Mina asked pointing at the papers.

" All the info I have about them and you two" YoungJae said, although he couldn't normally allow them to see that set of information, the current situation requested him to break some rules and bend some regulations to help them, YoungJae was more than curious and he was at the least a nice guy to assist them with his investigation, and honestly, he was tired of his superiors saying that he was too much focused in that kind of stuff, he wanted to finish what he started.

Sana sat across him and eyed the files with curiosity.

" Is there something about Nayeon?" Sana asked, her head rested on her palms, as she watched YoungJae opening his laptop.

" Yes. Im Nayeon, not much information about her, no family, all dead, and it's like about two years of her life were completely erased. We don't know much about the past besides the fact that she was close with Yoo Jeongyeon"

" Does she own any places?" Mina asked difficulty sitting with them.

" Nothing besides the club"

" I don't think she would be using her own places, they have a lot of people working for them" Sana said, the others agreed, it would be too obvious.

" Is that all we have?" Mina asked opening the files across the table.

" Yes, we have to pass through all of this because I could have missed something" YoungJae said concentrated on his laptop, there he had security cam footage and phone call records.

" Let's start" He said turning on the footage of the night that Mark died for them to see, when it all started.

Positivity, if Sana would say, she is not likely to give up, even when things were clearly most against her, against them, see could feel something building up from all that scattered dark emotions, it made it lighter to think that she will succeed, it made it seem fine to not lose hope, especially when she needed something truthful to hold on, it felt as burning embers ignited a growing flame inside her chest when she flipped the first pages expecting to find leads about their connection, like she knew she would find him in any place he were. Like magic.

*

 

 


	16. A little hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> take your time and forgive my mistakes

 

The clock was ticking, again, like a reminder or a deceiver.

Tzuyu had already arrived home when they gave up, they had no idea how to find Jeongyeon.

Specifically, Sana was with her head resting between some papers, playing with the ends of the files, while YoungJae and Mina watched the surveillance-cam from near the club for the nth time, and honestly Mina had no doubt that most frames were manipulated by some sort of illusionary spell to make Jeongyeon look guilty since the beginning.

Meanwhile, Tzuyu shook his head and decided to approach them, he already had some idea about what was happening, after all, they looked defeated.

" Any luck?" He asked nonetheless.

" No" YoungJae shook his head. The younger guy yet had doubts.

" What if he's already dead?" Tzuyu wondered out loud, not that he was much of a negative person, more of a straightforward.

" What if he isn't? " Mina lazily said back, she started stretching her arms and briefly eyed Sana.

" How would you know?" Tzuyu asked curious. Sana was now fixing her hair and more awake but still distracted, listening.

" It makes more sense to let him alive" Mina explained.

" I guess you're right"

" I have faith on him" Sana stated, smiling a bit, blinking slowly and initiating to check the files one more time, she thought if she started over, it could be any missing information.

Tzuyu crossed his arms, he could see they weren't giving up, not really, and so he tried to picture a way to help.

" Can't you use magic to find him?" He asked after wondering.

Mina let a breath in the intense silence, they need to see other perspectives.

" Actually, we can" Mina answered that, she looked at Sana, both girls stared at each other as like they thought about a great discovery at the same time, eyes widen with amusement.

" It's too dangerous" Mina completed breaking the mysterious atmosphere, well, every magic is somewhat risky.

" Tell me what is dangerous" YoungJae said closing his laptop to fully concentrate.

Tzuyu smirked.

" Warn me if it works" He said walking away.

As a matter of fact, Mina had already thought about using spells several times and yes, it was her first idea but, they weren't so desperate before, seeing until the moment, they kind of were now. If only they had more resources, Sana did know what she meant, she knew it was a difficulty step.

" A tracking spell" Mina said in the heavy air.

" Can you tell where he is?" YoungJae asked surprised.

" Yes and no" Mina answered.

" The precision of the location depends of the strength of the spell, and with just the two of us it's too much" She completed.

" Oh" YoungJae said folding his arms.

" It's usually made for at least four people" Sana said frustrated.

" And besides, we can't, magic that invades private barriers are placed as forbidden. People can be locked up after the spell, we can't use it without being discovered" Mina said, biting her lower lip and thinking a lot, Mina was always a person to see the big picture before others do, possibilities were more than a mere concept for her.

The detective still had a confused look, so the girl preferred to explain him that inside their magic community they had some common rules, things had to be controlled to certain degree of magical uses, or else chaos would be made. Some unlimited, or even limited spells could be 'illegal' magic and were currently being tracked by the highest level of people, and using magic itself, as a scale or a chain that linked every type of magic or developers of ability, as Mina that can hypnotize, since is her ability it's not 'illegal' but if not, the culprit must be judged by its use. The problem was, for their situation, a tracking spell was easily discovered and besides, most of that families that have access to such extended knowledge were actually working with the bad guys, that's why the same had some sort of immunity, the cult practically commanded the board that decides who's going to be judged or even arrested. It was unfortunate and unfair, that's how much powerful they were becoming.

"They probably used the same spell to find us before, a tracking spell can be stopped by a blocking barrier, like the one we have and if they're using as well, it wouldn't work" Mina had already gave up from the sudden attempt.

YoungJae didn't expect to have an idea when it had to be with the magical subject, he was distractively staring the table and absorbing the things she told him.

" So, if you use the spell to find them, they will find you because of the spell... I think I have a way to make it work" YoungJae said nervously taping the table, Mina eyed him with curiosity, Sana widened her eyes and then smiled with the unexpected piece of hope.

" How?"

" A trap, we can find Yoo Jeongyeon and they can find us at the same time" YoungJae said with a wide grin. Something clicked inside Sana's brain, realization she guessed.

" Oh my God, it can work" Sana said happily and waving her hands excitedly in the air, she could hug YoungJae of happiness.

" Wait, wait, where are we going to do that and how can just the two of us manage to do it?" Mina asked still not sure.

" The police has a lot of hidden facilities to hold evidence, it's super secured, we can attract them there and BAM!" YoungJae said also excited.

" I guess you're right" Mina said looking down thinking about any complications, it was obvious, she eyed her injured leg and facepalmed.

" I can't go unless you have and wheeled chair" She said serious.

" I can get one! " Tzuyu yelled from the other room, all this time he was listening to them while pretending not to care, then he joined the others.

" Ah, I can fix your leg Mina" Sana said snapping her fingers like she had a brilliant idea.

"No"

"No"

Mina and Tzuyu said at the same time, they were suspiciously eyed.

" Why not?" Sana asked tilting her head to the side not understanding, it was curious how she didn't know or didn't had an idea why.

" You passed out the last time" Mina said, curious about Sana not mentioning that.

" And I don't want more patients, we don't need you unconscious" Tzuyu completed.

" I can do it" Sana insisted. Mina shook her head.

" You need your magic to do the spell, I can figure out how to live like this" Mina said.

" It wasn't that bad. Your leg will be healed in another three weeks" Tzuyu thought it was better to let them know. Mina frowned just a little, she wanted to help, it was her duty.

" I can arrange everything today, just need a minute to do some phone calls" YoungJae said, Sana put her hand up and they did a high five, Mina looked weirdly at them, but then decided to join their excitement.

" We can do this" Sana said staring her friend in the eyes, reassuring her, Mina was always the careful one but when Sana asked like that, she couldn't deny and the idea seemed to work.

" Leave me out of this, I have to work" Tzuyu said walking away again and waving his hand.

" Tzuyu! We need your help" Sana asked making puppy eyes.

"... No, I don't see any advantages, call me if you need someone to stitch you up" Tzuyu said with a poker face. Sana was about to follow him but Mina called her.

" Let him be" She said because for that little time they were together she can tell that Tzuyu wasn't easy to be convinced.

.

.

.

The more hidden place that YoungJae could find, a small building with a cracking floor, a bunch of boxes and high security, he had to ask favors to be able to access the passwords and had to make a really good excuse to enter there. It took fifteen minutes to do the plan, another forty to get in the place. YoungJae drove in full speed, Sana was more than thankful for his help, Mina was running a bunch of things that could go wrong in her mind, Tzuyu was fast enough to go to the hospital and came back with a wheeled chair so Mina didn't have to walk with crutches. A small gap of silence made his presence between them, of thoughtful ideas and needless worried words, Mina was required, her hypnotic ability would be necessary to make the guards go away, what they didn't need was more people getting in the crossed fire.

Sana smiled to her friend, she always did that regardless the situation. Mina wasn't that convinced but once she did her thing to get rid of the easily fooled police officers, they walked into a small area surrounded by dusty shelves protected by plastic sheets and objects filling cardboard boxes, for what it looked like, YoungJae had found the most distinct police building, the walls were thick black, like a huge box of hidden contents, it seemed abandoned and full of unowned things. For what it mattered, the logistics of their plans seemed to encounter that place correctly, they thought about setting their said trap and the police would do the rest to try to arrested whoever came to look for them to cause conflict.

Mostly preoccupied, Mina seemed to go away of the world when she only focused in presenting her magic in the area, chanting and spelling, faint white glows were created by her magic, Sana was guiding her along the shelves while YoungJae pushed some of them to get the center of the room clear.

Both girls had already learned that dealing with the evil cult always came with a surprise or unexpected failures but yet, they looked through their powers with a positive mind. The thing was, Mina couldn't expect that Sana had other plans, the older girl is quite stubborn and Mina would do everything to protect Sana, she was her only true family left.

The duo went through doing unconventional traps as they liked to call, the idea was to get out of there before their enemies arrive and they were going to do that by actually making the enemies believe that the girls were there for a long time, or better to explain, they were going to fool the bad guys to make them think that the building was their safe place. The cult was always a step ahead, and now, the girls would be a mile away, expectantly.

" I'm done" YoungJae screamed from the distance.

" We too" Sana screamed back, she and Mina set magic timers, they would activate to provoke noises of explosions when the enemies arrive. They also prepared a bunch of small duration trapping circles just to scare and also actually explosive runes for those that dared to adventure.

The helpful detective wiped the sweat of his forehead, black hair hanging from both sides as he sighed, hands on his waist as he eyed their work well done. Sana pushed Mina to the center of the area for both to get ready and do the difficult spell, they didn't need any circles for that one, just an area and a way to write the location or whatever close place they could get by it, the spell highly depended of their magical strength and they were confident, especially Sana, that closed her eyes when she felt her heart racing a bit, then she suddenly felt Mina's hand on her own, like the latter knew that Sana was trying her best not to fail, she let a small smile and the other girl followed along, to Sana to sit down on the floor in front of Mina, they just needed to join both hands and start the spell.

" Wait" Sana got up again and that startled both of them.

" Can I talk to you for a second?" She said to YoungJae, the guy confusedly raised an eyebrow.

" Sure" He said, the detective was outside the perimeter and leaning on some shelves, Sana approached him but she didn't want Mina to hear their conversation and that was a bit suspicious.

" Can I borrow you phone? You have Tzuyu's number, right?" Sana asked the guy and indeed, Mina couldn't hear them from the distance, the latter seemed too distracted remembering how to do the spell correctly.

" Here"

" Thanks"

It took two tries for Tzuyu to answer his phone.

" What happened?" He already started asking.

" Nothing" Sana said quickly.

" So, what's wrong?"

" Oooh, right. I need you to come here"

Tzuyu facepalmed but them he realized that she couldn't see him.

" Why? I'm working" He said because he was in the hospital that hour.

" It's Mina, I need you to take her home" Sana asked making her most pleading voice.

" What? I can't" Tzuyu said.

 _' Aish, that girl'_ He thought rubbing his temple.

" Please Tzuyu, I don't want her to be in danger" Sana said again, she even said it cutely.

" Stop getting her into trouble them" He replied crossing his arms, in his mind he was right in not leaving his duty in the hospital, although, there was a bit of doubt.

" But Tzuyu, do you want her to get hurt again?"

Sana could clearly listen he sighing.

" No"

Ok, maybe Tzuyu was already giving up.

" You know the address, don't take too long" Sana said with a victorious smile.

" Ugh, fine, I'll be there, goodbye Sana" He said hanging up.

" Yes! " Sana said commemoratively since she fulfilled her objective, clapping her hands and jumping happily, she wasn't going to let Mina get a scratch that time. They could see the smirk on her lips, she was trying to suppress but with no use, she gave the phone back to YoungJae and was sat in front of Mina again.

" What did you do?" Mina asked suspiciously.

" You'll see later, let's start" Sana preferred to dodge the subject and the other girl seemed to let it go.

A piece of paper lied on the floor near Sana, she was the one canalizing to see where Jeongyeon could be, so she was also the one to suffer the most impact, that if they had luck to not to find a magic barrier and if they did find one, both girls were going to be even stronger to be able to see through it, that was the plan at least, doing what most people couldn't do, actually beat a barrier. They looked at each other eyes before closing it to begin, YoungJae was watching it all near the door.

Mina firstly felt a strange force seeming to try to pull her out of her mind, her hands were heating when both her magic and Sana's mixed together to graciously make the air heavy and slowly glow an eerie shiver colored ray, it passed right through the paper as they said together some words that Mina learned when she was younger, gladly she still remembered how to instruct that kind of magic. Her precious powers, Sana's breath was started to quicken as an alert, she couldn't back down, just a minute had passed and she had to hold into reality to keep going so she focused in the person she was looking for, Jeongyeon's voice came into her mind before even she could distinguish his frame, it was soothing to hear it again and that would be enough to make her way through the difficulties, she was unconsciously smiling, with that she calmed down as Mina mumbled the last few words.

Suddenly Sana let a scared high-pitched breath, Mina held her hand tighter.

" I think I know where he is" Sana said, eyes closed shut as she kept going through the many ways the spell was indicating. Honestly, she didn't expect to get so close of the house and never did thought about seeing Jeongyeon, looked like she was seeing through other people's eyes and they were focused only on the guy. As a cue, when she was about to hold onto the scene, the spell ended as it started, the glow fainting in front of them, Sana lazily eyed the paper to see if she could get a location.

As a painting or even a picture, she saw the same old house that had spotted in her mind, surrounded by woods and a clouded sky.

" It worked!" Sana said happily picking up the paper and jumping around showing it to Mina, she flipped it and in the backside had a writing saying the address.

" It actually worked! " Sana said still waving the paper through the air. Mina couldn't help but smile, YoungJae even clapped his hands victoriously.

Sana wiped a happy tear out of her eye.

" Let's find him" She said hugging Mina, that hugged her back tightly.

But hey, Mina was wrong if she thought that Sana was letting her getting in risk again. They left the building through the front door, Sana a little behind since she was expecting something to happen, they got outside already mentally preparing.

" Tzuyu?" Mina asked seeing the guy there and leaned on his car, he then walked and opened the door of the backseats.

" Get in" He told Mina that looked puzzled. YoungJae eyed Sana but understood what she did. Then Mina looked back at her friend with a frown.

" Why did you call him?" She asked, Sana got closer and hugged her again.

" You need to go with him, there's no need for you to be there with me" Sana said near her ear.

" I can't, you can't go alone" Mina said sadly.

" I won't, YoungJae is with me and Jeongyeon will be there"

Mina couldn't fight with her like that, she also couldn't say that the girl was right because she thought that Sana was terribly wrong about leaving her behind, even if the risk of losing her was too much, Mina preferred to be there to help than wait. But yet, that was Sana, the same that stood by her side in every hard choice, she couldn't argue, not when her friend teared up in front of her.

" I'll see you later" Sana said with a warm smile to break Mina's cold gaze. Mina nodded and wiped her tear with a thumb across the girl's cheeks. The way back seemed shorten than before, Sana turned around and left to follow YoungJae to his car, Mina did her best to not to cry, if things go wrong, that would be the last time she would see Sana, she felt a grip on her heart.

Tzuyu approached silently and stood by her side, watching as the other two sprinted from there.

" Couldn't you make her stay or take you with her?" Tzuyu broke the silence curiously.

" Probably, but I can't cause her more suffering" Mina reasonably said and passed by Tzuyu to go to his car, the guy shrugged his shoulders not understand how people could be so complicated.

  >>>>>>>>>

It was orange now, the light hitting his eyes, from the morbid sunset. Jeongyeon woke up to see a different room, probably of the same house as he saw the furniture with an old aspect, no sight of Nayeon or BamBam but he could distinguish some voices coming from the hallways.

.

The same sky greeted Sana as she passed through the road, if she could tell, by the minutes they passed driving, the bad guys had already been caught by the trap and YoungJae would be getting a lot of troubling phone calls later, but he said he can handle it and she believed, no reason to doubt him.

Sana could clearly see the sunset from there, oddly welcoming to her, heart racing just a little more, they stopped right before a small dusty road that certainly leaded to the said house, YoungJae was impressed that it wasn't that far. He clicked his gun and opened the door of the car.

" All ready" He said to Sana, the girl nodded and followed him to approach the probably dangerous place.

Less guards than what they expected, YoungJae was going to take care of them as Sana searched for a backdoor, she had to walk through the small woods occupying the sides of the house.

.

Someone was approaching, rapid steps with a hint of anger, the door cracked an awful sound and Jeongyeon pretended to sleep again.

" I can tell that you're awake" Nayeon said closing the door again.

" Jeong, you can't fool me" She completed, a smile then a giggle. He realized and sighed.

" What was that for?" She asked, walking through the room to sit herself on the edge of a bed, she was facing Jeongyeon.

" I could hear you screaming, you ok?" He asked actually staring at her the same way, oh, he wasn't going to backdown. Nayeon looked so suspicious and surprised at the same time.

" It was BamBam suggesting to take you out of here but I need to make sure you're safe first" Nayeon said, by then Jeongyeon was sure that she was out of his mind or else she would see right through his acting.

" Can you tell me if you're always inside of my head?" He asked nonetheless. Nayeon didn't mind that.

" I can't get in too many times or else your brain and mine will be permanently damaged" She clarified.

" But there's a way to block me" She wondered out loud, more to herself than anyone. Jeongyeon listened attentively.

" Never mind" She then said, loosening her arms to fall on the bed.

That new discovery at least gave Jeongyeon hope.

.

Sana fell down with a thud when a rock got in her way, she wanted to laugh of her silliness but bit her lip to suppress whatever noise, she was there about to see if any living beings were inside the house. Near a window, the paint of the walls seemed to peel off, Sana slowly tried to approach, not mumbling any noises, YoungJae had already took care of the guards, in a way he was trained to these situations, Sana had to go back to him. She stopped when hearing a stiffed laugh, so curiousity, she had to put a hand above her lips in surprise, Nayeon was there and Jeongyeon was tied up, Sana widened her eyes and she was angry, her blood boiled seeing the two of them, her heart raced, an strange suffocating emotion, she wasn't an easily angry person but that scene, she just couldn't. By then, YoungJae was right near her and wondering what she was looking for, then he saw it too and both got down to hide.

" I think there's just one more armed guy inside, it's going to be easier than I thought" YoungJae whispered.

" I'll go in ahead, you go after me" He said indicating the way to the front door, Sana agreed.

The locks of the doors were many, secured as a fort but that didn't stop magic to undo them, Sana was going to pass for every obstacle she needed to. The detective had already walked in, looking around pointing his gun.

" Boo" BamBam said, one hand above YoungJae's shoulder and the latter felt a scared chill running his spine, like that, the first shot happened, it hit a wall so no one was harmed, yet.

" Hahhahaha, dude you should had seen your face" BamBam said laughing of YoungJae that blinked several times to understand how the other guy got near him so fast.

" You'll never catch me, but Nayeon, I don't care and Jeongyeon, I prefer to save my life than risking it with him" The sadistic bad guy said before disappearing, luckily Sana wasn't in sight, or else she would have been caught, the girl was waiting near the door for YoungJae.

" Where's he?" The detective mumbled with his silvery gun pointed to every corner.

" Sana" He called her, she came in.

" I can't find BamBam anymore" He said still attentive to the surroundings.

" It's probably because he has super speed" Sana said taping her chin in thought.

" What? Why didn't you tell me?" YoungJae asked shaking his head.

" I thought you knew" Sana retorted nervously. BamBam's super speed actually uses magical triggers, impossible for someone without his ability, difficult even for him, it only works from time to time and short distances, magic flows and follows paths, his ability manipulates it spontaneously.   

" It's ok, at least he's gone" YoungJae said finally lowering his gun.

" Who said so?" BamBam said, he was near the end of the hall.

" Hello again princess" He waved to Sana.

" Can we beat him?" YoungJae asked to the girl.

" Yes, he is actually a coward" Sana said crossing her arms.

" Hey!" BamBam said.

" No one calls me a coward" He completed getting a gun out of his pocket, exactly what Sana was waiting for, or something like that, BamBam shot for about four times before the girl used her powers to smack his head with his own gun, the bullets fell on the floor like it couldn't do any harm.

" He is also easily distracted" Sana said passing near the unconscious body.

.

At the same time, when Nayeon heard the first shot, she was more alarmed about being her bosses than people to rescue Jeongyeon so she backed away and tried to relax, only when she heard BamBam talking that she realized, Jeongyeon smirked at her.

" I don't need you awake" Nayeon said and approached to touch his head, Jeongyeon instantly blacked out.

A loud thud followed by silence, Nayeon was ready to attack whoever entered the room.

.

" I'll tie him up, can you do the rest alone?" YoungJae asked dragging the body.

" I think so" Sana said trying to help him.

" Go, we need to leave here as soon as possible, they must had already discovered about the trap" The detective said.

" Right"

The second time, the hallway seemed narrower, it was probably because Sana was nervous about what she would find behind that door.

 _' Please don't fail me now'_ She said to her own brain and grabbed the doorknob.

Her eyes met with Nayeon's instantly when she opened the damaged door, the other girl seemed to release perforating lasers out of her gaze, Sana was bravely not affected and stepped forward.

" You can't have him" Nayeon said like poison left along with her words. Sana kept silent.

" Give up before I end you" Nayeon said threatful, although, her hands were slightly shaking, nervousness and madness taking care of her actions. Sana looked down, just to realize that she was more sad than angry with Nayeon, even if she didn't understand what Nayeon had done with Jeongyeon, or how her powers worked, it didn't matter when she felt down like her emotions sank into a dark place, that was new for Sana, showing her weak expression, for more that it hurt.

" Can I ask you something?" Sana said, she was near the doorframe and looking directly at Jeongyeon. Nayeon eyed the two and clenched her fist, the way Sana looked at him like he was her last hope, Nayeon still waited for the question, she wanted to know.

" You love him, right? Is that the reason you're doing this?" Sana asked, she seemed innocent asking things like that, Nayeon heard a low thud in her rapid heartbeats, she could only get angry with the other girl getting right on that point.

" I'm going to kill you" Nayeon said lifting her hand up to threat Sana, she had a crazy look on her eyes. But the other girl didn't flinch, it was like she was being driven by a foreign emotion that took care of her thoughts, she wouldn't backdown, that was no one else to fight for Jeongyeon.

" You don't have to, but... I'm not leaving him with you. I think you have to let him go" Sana said not afraid of the consequences. Nayeon snickered, it was annoying.

" He isn't yours" She said, biting back a mocking chuckle.

" Oh... but he's not yours either, we need to let him know before taking this kinds of decisions"

Nayeon didn't let a breath, Sana kept her same odd smile to push the bad feelings away.

"Are we really going to kill ourselves? Jeongyeon is the one who have to see how much we care for him" Sana said longing, like these things were deep inside her head and quickly showing up, she gave a step forward to see if Nayeon was really going to shoot her but nothing came.

"I can see why you tied him like this but it doesn't make him love you I guess" Sana said.

" I'm not taking for granted either but I'll try my best" She completed with a giggle, the deathly atmosphere seemed to fade with the sweet sound.

" You can find love again Nayeon, and probably someone you don't need to tie up to be with you" Then Sana took courage and fully approached the girl. Nayeon had a guilty look, and she couldn't help but cry by then, she knew that everything she did was wrong, she always had that lingering feeling inside of her that kept being pushed back when she did bad things and, hearing those words from Sana make her see a bit of reason along with her obsessive thoughts, craziness surpassing craziness if a sane person would tell, but feelings were difficult to understand, even if the smartest person tried, that is always the small things that keep hidden from the person's eyes, the whole point of feeling without any logical was linked with what Sana felt when she found Jeongyeon again that day.

" He's not going to be happy with you" Nayeon said between a sob.

" I-I'm going to take care of him" Sana said silent patting her on the shoulder.

" Can you trust me? I'm not evil" Sana said with a soft voice.

" I know, I saw everything, the time he spent with you" Nayeon said clenching her fist again.

Sana looked at Jeongyeon as he slept, he couldn't even be imagining what was just happening inside that room, maybe Nayeon wasn't that evil at all, certainly damaged, she just needed to clear her mind and see her mistakes.

" I'm freeing him, go, before I regret" The older girl said pushing Sana away from her, Nayeon wiped her falling tears and didn't dare to look up as Sana untied the ropes with her magic.

Jeongyeon fell softly, since Sana wasn't strong enough to take him out of there and she didn't want to use more magic, she called YoungJae and the guy helped her by getting one of Jeongyeon's arms.

" Wait" Sana said before going out of the room, she turned back.

" Good luck" She wished to Nayeon as the other girl looked away of the scene, she didn't answer back.

" What was that?" YoungJae asked seeing the unusual interaction.

The words she talked simply came in her mind.

"She needed help"

They were outside, it was dark, Jeongyeon was carefully placed on the backseat, Sana sat there to keep him company, while YoungJae was going to drive them to the safe place, away from sadistic speedsters and evil crazy lovers.

*

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Next updates will take a while, bc college and, writing is hard :')  
> Thanks for the support!


	17. Tomorrow

 

 

It tricked him, the illusion of safety they were believing, his magical world full of evil people, the confusion of his own emotions, Jeongyeon kept wondering if feeling anything in those situations was for the better or worse, and yet falling in love. But really, even knowing that somethings he just can't ignore, trying his best to control it seemed more reasonable than surrender, it kept him sane, admitting was the hardest, or the easiest in his own ways.

Jeongyeon breathed heavily feeling a better air, lighter, not so full of lingering worries that earlier seemed to zoom out from his mind. Dark, his eyes played with the passing stars through the window, the ceiling of the car, the fabric of Sana's shirt near him, she looked peaceful when he looked up at her face, the girl still didn't seem to notice that he woke up since his eyes were barely open. Now that, little things were suddenly noticed for no reason, Jeongyeon was laid down, head resting on her lap as the car didn't had much space, legs bent with his knees up, it wasn't much of an comfortable position but then he could feel that Sana had some of her fingers intertwined between the locks of his hair and it felt so warm as she caressed it, so soft that his heart fluttered and he held his breath to close his eyes again. Sana only stopped when looking down, Jeongyeon was smiling, her heart skipped a beat, or maybe a few more when he put a hand up to meet hers.

" Hi" He said, same hand getting his hair out of his eyes, Sana was smiling too, grinning brightly suddenly feeling a lot better.

" Hello" She answered back, Jeongyeon fully opened his eyes to look at her, his feelings overflowing with her gaze, her fluffy cheeks showing a soft pinkish color.

" How you're doing?" Jeongyeon sheepishly asked like another normal start of a day, suddenly having to break the stares between them, too much was happening too fast inside of him.

" Better than you I think" Sana said with a tiny giggle in the end.

" Really? How did you take me out of there?" Jeongyeon uttered, maybe he need to regain some of his strength because he was drained, Nayeon's treatment hit hard in his mind, but he could remember it all, as the older girl really freed him. Sana thought hard about how to explain.

" Wait, did you kill her?" He asked or stated, eyes widen, not much in surprise but in dangerous expectations.

" No" Sana protested, crossing her arms.

" I talked with her" She said like it was nothing, puffing her cheeks a bit from him to think such things about her.

" You what?"

" I asked her to let you go and she did" Sana explained.

Jeongyeon stared her again not believing it.

" And then you killed her" He said, that sounded more reasonable, because a crazy Nayeon couldn't be that easily convinced.

" No, stop! YoungJae, tell him that I didn't kill her" Sana said slightly pouting.

" She didn't kill her" YoungJae briefly said still focused on driving.

" Good" Jeongyeon said letting a relieved sigh, followed by a smile, and it was comfortable to see it after so much trouble, they were comfortable. But Sana was bugged by the answer, she didn't know if he was happy for Nayeon not being dead.

" Do you care about her?" Sana asked, her hand was still near his hair and fidgeting with some wild hair tips but let's just say that she was not that confident anymore, and it had to be a bit of an issue to unsettle Sana's confidence. Jeongyeon thought for a bit.

" You would be a killer if you killed her" He repeated remembering that Sana once had affirmed that to him.

" You're right" She simply said, nodding. They fell in silence, an easy one to think, Sana was relieved, she leaned her head back and relaxed, briefly stealing glances at the guy, feeling those little sparkles inside of her chest making her heart warm, he was just there finally on her reach. The car was faster now, by the streetlights that had a smaller gap between them as they illuminated the windows of the car.

" Why are you here?" Jeongyeon suddenly asked. Sana tilted her head in confusion.

" Eh?" She asked, not sure about it.

" Why are you on the backseat when the front seat is empty? " He said eyeing the empty spot, remembering that he still was laid with his head on her lap, not that he was finding it bad, but the issue was that he was thinking it was overwhelmingly good. Sana had to look away to the window to hide her bit of embarrassment.

" You're better sleeping" She said turning from fidgeting his hair to patting his head.

" Ok, wake me up when we stop" Jeongyeon said playfully closing his eyes and crossing his arms.

" No, get up, you're heavy" Sana whined.

" You just said I'm better sleeping" He said serious.

" Fine" Sana puffing her cheeks in annoyance.

_' Cute'_ He almost said that out loud and adverted his eyes before closing them, he could feel Sana starting to trick with the ends of his hair again and like that he rested, disguising a smile. Maybe something was showing up because he can't recall the last time he smiled like that.

  >>>>>>>>

" They're here" Mina announced to no one in particular, Tzuyu was the one walking to open the door since he had hide Mina's crutches for the girl not to do anything stupid, it perhaps was harsh but it was his way to take care of her.

Jeongyeon walked in, secured by YoungJae, Sana was just behind them and she practically ran to Mina and hugged the girl.

  >>>>>>>

To tell they were happy, well, they were but yet, so many questions for too little answers.

About three nights passed, they finished plans and discussed the future, tried their best.

Sana was strangely quiet after a while, Mina had been noticing how the girl purposely skipped through subjects, as like she was deep in thought or reluctant to come up with a few words. They had been on the couch, lazily searching for a good amount of distraction, an untouched sensation lingered in the air, of curiosity and even confusion, all of that coming from Mina since the other girl had been blinking her sleep away.

_' She's probably tired'_ Mina thought in a brief of second when Sana yawned, eyes fixed on the TV but not really paying attention, Sana had only been there because she claimed to keep company to Mina as they didn't have too much time to hang out the past days. It almost looked normal, or routine.

Mina knows better, always does, there's something bothering her but she doesn't want to push any buttons. Some reasons only came into her mind when Jeongyeon distractively passed near them from the kitchen, he didn't mutter a word and went upstairs probably to his room and well, he was his usual self for what it seemed, at least around Mina. For a second Sana seemed to gaze him with the corner of her eyes, looking but not daring to look at the same time, Mina is easy to pick up things and Sana can't disguise that there is something simply off, it had been there before but it was like she was expecting something, anything.

.

If people like Nayeon exists in the world, Jeongyeon couldn't just stop of being reluctant about his emotions. If it took a crazy person to scatter his brain to make him realize that he was falling for Sana, he couldn't just tell her and promise things he wasn't sure to fulfill, remembering that, he barely got back to accomplish his first promise. Call it overthinking, but Sana didn't let his mind for a second.

Jeongyeon crawled back to his designated bed and stretched all over it in frustration, yes, he was quite tired but with a restless mind, and besides, he had slept for a while in his stay with Nayeon. He was sure it was burned in his mind the things she made him see, the agony of not remembering the meaning of living those days and knowing the people around him. He doesn't want to feel like that ever again, even every minute in the last three days when he realized he was staring at Sana, just in thought that, what if he was feeling like that for the moment, what if it passed or it was accidentally and it could be for anyone than the girl. It was absurd to think, strange to live and worst to the point he wanted to shout again to anyone other than her about how it was suffocating to have Sana right there near him, by his side, and keep denying how she made him feel these things when he last expected to find the beautiful sensation of smiling just for seeing her happy. Doubts, they grew like wild fire when he's not yet forgotten about almost forgetting her.

_' Would it be better? '_ Jeongyeon asked himself pushing his body to the other side of the bed as he sighed, that inquire regarding about burring those feelings to pass by their lasting journey without any further psychological damage, Sana was still getting pursued after all, yes, they had Yugyeom and BamBam successfully arrested, Nayeon was nowhere near the scene when the police got there but, since Sana said that the girl wouldn't be a problem, he actually believed. Ignoring, became a common thing in his life before the incident, now he sees how awful it is to do that.

He blew a cold sigh this time, it was indeed freezing, and soon the sun would come up, so he shifted again to keep himself still and possibly stop to try to predict what will happen if Sana loved him back, he just didn't want to cause more pain to her.

.

.

.

Although Tzuyu was out of the house, most of the times working, he really didn't count in finding a positive attachment every time he opened the door and every day he was greeted by those strangely friendly girls preparing dinner for all of them, or even Jeongyeon since he knew some stuff about food, especially eating it. Tzuyu often prefers to shake off his thoughts of actually liking their company and plays hard to get especially when it comes from Mina's judgmental eyes when he tries to skip meals. She only had called the guy to eat that night because he looked as skinny as he could split in half but now she knew that it wasn't a very good idea, Tzuyu gave a lecture about how he couldn't waste his time and it was enough.

" And why are you forcing your leg?" That he asked just seeing Mina uncomfortably standing, at least he sounded calm. She didn't answer, Tzuyu saw her crutches near him and shoved into her direction, she took it quickly and dragged herself out of the kitchen, the guy rolled his eyes with the sight, he didn't understand how the girl could be the most stubborn person he ever met, quiet, sometimes even shy but with an unbreakable sense of doing things on her own, he was getting pissed with her for no apparent reason, just the thought of her getting hurt again because of her headstrong attitude. Mina didn't want to mention that the food was actually prepared by Jeongyeon with the helpful Sana that time, which Sana was more awkward than her usual around Jeongyeon, making jokes about anything and reacting too much when the guy simply helped her, that ended up with Sana doing a mess with her clumsy self and having to clean the kitchen before Tzuyu got there, at least she tried, Mina saw it all and wanted to leave the place because it was killing her to see Sana and Jeongyeon barely talking when the awkward moments passed, but she was there to help, and by the way, the reason she was by herself when Tzuyu appeared was simply that the other two had already ate and she was there to store the dishes to their places, so Mina had put her crutches aside for just a minute to understand the actual organization of the big kitchen.

Didn't last her now distressed leg, she was sensitive enough to feel the sudden urge of building tears, Mina didn't want to cry because of him or for whatever made her feel down but she had to, for the sake of sanity.

" Mina, what's wrong?" Sana's voice came from behind of her, since Mina was now in her favorite place of the house, the small area near the living room, Sana approached to comfort her friend that looked hurt.

" Nothing" Mina said wiping her cheeks with the ends of her sleeves, she was with her casted leg up on a small support while her body rested on a comfortable chair.

" Does it hurt?" Sana asked pointing at her leg.

" A little" Mina said between a sob. By then Sana was getting worried.

" Should I call Tzuyu to see if he has any medicine?"

" No, don't need to bother him" Mina protested since he was more part of the problem than the solution.

Sana looked around and decided to push a matching chair to put them side by side, Mina immediately scooted closer to rest her head on Sana's shoulder.

The younger had that an unusual lifeless semblance, Mina closed her reddish eyes to calm down, Sana was pouting not sure about how to help, it had been a while since her friend didn't show her gummy smile or airy laugh, she wanted to cheer her up, Mina was troubled, Sana patted her head meanwhile the girl quietly sobbed.

" I'll always be here ok? Even when I'm not, I mean... You got what I meant" Sana said giggling, she was preoccupied for more than a reason, one of which only her knew about it, Sana didn't want them more worried about her state. 

" Okay " Mina said smiling a bit, she then got up from Sana's shoulder.

" Thank you" Mina said hugging her.

" Always" Sana brought her closer, it was good to know that the girl was still there with that situation.

It was a common silence, around there was quiet when Sana was quiet.

Until they moment they heard what sounded like a frustrated scream coming from the living room. Both girls looked suspiciously to each other before checking out the source of such a sudden noise.

Jeongyeon and Tzuyu were oddly engaged in a weirdly extreme match of what looked like a fighting game, they were sat on the floor and staring attentively at the tv screen. Oh, if Mina knew before that Tzuyu had a console... Anyways, the girls looked at each other again not exactly knowing how to react with the scene, Sana shrugged her shoulders while Mina shook her head, both guys too engaged in playing to notice their presence.

" You're going to die" Jeongyeon huriedly tapped the buttons of the controller not letting a time to breathe, well, they had nothing better to do.

" I don't think so" Tzuyu smirked hitting his last resource to win. Jeongyeon gave up and release the controller on his lap, letting his body drop on the floor while he sighed in defeat. From his position, he could see Sana looking at him, like, she was upside down from his vision but he was able to see her smile when she stiffed a laugh looking at him, meanwhile Mina was by her side rolling her eyes seeing the two guys being a bit childish about winning the game. Jeongyeon immediately stood up and put the controller down.

" I accept my defeat" He said and shook hands with Tzuyu, that nodded proudly.

Sana turned to Mina excitedly, her eyes were even glowing.

" Should we try?" Sana said happily. Mina wasn't sure but when Sana started insisting, she laughed and gave up from ever denying the request.

Tzuyu passed the controllers for both girls, Jeongyeon sat on the couch behind them, Tzuyu said he was going to sleep and let them be, he only warned once about the consequences of them breaking his games but they pretended not to listen and continued to choose their respective characters.

.

.

.

Sana gave up when Mina beat her about four times in a row. Like, she knew that Mina was good but tried, just for fun and to make them laugh for some time, it did work and it looked normal, like they were reunited there to play as concern was pushed aside. Even Jeongyeon couldn't deny his smiles every time Sana started whining about Mina never letting her win and the latter blabbing about how she was going easy for the sake of friendship, he watched both girls playing until it was late and they became sleepy.

Mina was incredibly the first to excuse herself, honestly, she saw an opportunity, it was the first time in three days they were alone in a room and maybe Sana could possibly fix anything, so Mina was faster and let they both there, staring at nothing too much interesting rather than talking.

Sana put the controllers down and turned the electronics off, Jeongyeon earlier denied about going to play. Sana wasn't sure about what to do so she was going away to the previous spot she was with Mina to let her thoughts flow. Jeongyeon felt something tingling on his heart when Sana turned her back and left the room, like a longing sensation.

" Sana, wait" The words left his mouth before he could think anything else. She turned around normally, and her normal is mostly hyped.

Jeongyeon got up a bit unsure, for what Sana was seeing, she noticed just with a glimpse that the harsh, certain and even kind of cool Jeongyeon disappeared right there when his eyes encountered hers and showed a simple look, Sana was amused, she let her own gaze being guide by his.

He didn't know how to say to her that everything they passed through made him realize that even if life was that complicated for them he would protect her, that he wanted to keep her safe even when the bad guys were winning.

" I will end this" Jeongyeon ended up saying, eyes landing down to the floor, he scratched the back of his neck on an unconscious move. Sana did what she does best, chuckled her way out of the situation, because right there she realized that Jeongyeon wasn't that cool especially when he tried so hard to be.

" We will end this together" She said cheering with a fist up, she stepped closer to Jeongyeon.

" I think I owe you an apology" She said, her lips made a thin line when she pursed them together, she was closer to the guy that now could see her staring brown eyes kindly gazing, they were the feature Jeongyeon remembered most about her, that and her reddish lips.

" For what exactly?" The guy asked, trying to hold back any cracks on his voice.

" I made you get in trouble again" Sana said, hands clasped together.

" No, that was my fault, I wasn't smart enough" Jeongyeon admitted, he could blame her, as same as he could blame the hour, the weather, even the fact that magic existed but in the end, it wasn't anyone's fault and he knew it, better to blame himself than let her think she did something wrong, never.

" Ooooh" Sana exclaimed.

" So, I wasn't smart either" She uttered in conclusion.

" You were fine, it was unpredictable" Jeongyeon reassured. They breathed in a comfortable silence after that, just realizing that they didn't have much of a subject to talk about, they were still in development. Sana was looking at nothing when she let a curious sound, one of her sounds. Jeongyeon looked up at her like waiting for something, they stared.

" Nothing" Sana said not wanting to bring any unwanted subject. Jeongyeon hummed.

" You can say if you want to" He said seeing her still puzzled.

" Ok. What Nayeon did to you?" Sana didn't hesitate this time, really wanting to know. Jeongyeon found his way to the couch and sat down again, better than pretending that his knees weren't weak, he motioned to Sana to sit by his side.

" She told me she saw everything, between us I mean" Ok, Sana kind of hesitated in the last part.

" Yes, she did" Jeongyeon let a breath and looked at Sana, her eyes glowing and she felt it again, a magical sensation of time becoming static, magic indeed, like the first time she saw him, it didn't last a second and she fell in thought about what it could be that about. She wonders if he felt the same.

" Nayeon entered my head and kept making things go away, feelings and memories" Jeongyeon explained.

" Ah, that's it?" Sana asked, Jeongyeon shrugged his shoulders and nodded, letting his head fall on the back of couch.

" I thought she was physically torturing you"

" It was bad enough to get her messing my head, I'm glad she didn't think about torturing me"

" She wasn't a good torturer then" Sana practically stated, Jeongyeon wanted to laugh.

" Maybe she wasn't"

" You're still well so I'm sure she wasn't"

" What do you know about torture?" Jeongyeon asked since the girl was so sure.

" Well, she didn't take anything important from you I guess" Sana said but not exactly knowing what she was taking about. Then she had a thought, and for her it makes sense.

" If she was really trying to hurt you she would take your nails off or break your toes, like they do in the movies" Sana revealed what was passing in her mind, doing a dramatic gesture in the air.

" And I heard that they can also let you bleed a lot"

Jeongyeon was kind of surprised, impressed or dumb folded by her being straightforward and her weird kind of vision about that.

" Where did you hear these things?"

" Life" Sana said nonetheless of the little information.

" She did take important things from me" He said, Sana frowned by his side.

" But I took it back" He said with a side smile.

Their silent became heavy, Sana was about to ask what he meant with that while she wondered. Jeongyeon looked around and watched as the clock turned hours and it was getting late fast, the silence made evident how much his heart was thumping, and it sounded insane to let be driven by those feelings, Jeongyeon was hesitating to let her know, to be a problem was very easy, to do the right thing was frightening, even if he didn't know what was right for both of them, letting her know, or let her go, maybe ignorance was better. He nonetheless was there and had to do something.

" You should go to sleep" Jeongyeon said already getting up, looked like he made his decision.

" But-" Sana was about to protest.

" I'll tell you when you wake up" He said, the lingering wait.

" I promise" He completed and stood his hand to help her up, Sana didn't hesitate to follow him out of the living room and to the hallways, they were about to drift apart since his room was upstairs but, Sana grabbed his sleeve and made him turn around, all of a sudden, she was the brave one. Jeongyeon was met by her arms around him, like the last time they were about to separate, but instead of worry he saw how Sana brightly smiled keeping him closer, Jeongyeon blushed furiously, and no, it wasn't dark enough for him to hide it, he was sure she noticed, just didn't mind. Jeongyeon was froze for the half of a second but then he was able slide his arms and adjust himself to hesitantly hug her waist as she embraced his shoulders, she was warm against him, head rested near his chest. If every day could be like that. Jeongyeon isn't much of an affectionate and huggable person, but if it was Sana he would let as much as she wanted.

" You barely kept your promise the last time" Sana mumbled a bit sad. Jeongyeon's drumming heartbeat resonated in his ears, like a matching tune along with hers, she freed her arms a bit to look at him.

" How can you promise me again?" She asked serious, it was rare to see her like that, even in the most dangerous situations, she really meant.

" I can't" He leaned in just a bit, breaths mixing together.

"But I'll try my best" Jeongyeon said, he had to admit that his voice almost didn't leave his throat and that he knew that his cheeks were glowing red, but he wonders if Sana knows how beautiful she is when she does that, or how irresistible she looks to him. And yeah, Sana could feel the butterflies building up in her stomach, her thoughts were blurry by then, blushing as much as him. But Jeongyeon stepped back, freeing their soothing hug as he searched for a way to stablish his mind again. Sana was frowning just a bit, she really liked to keep in touch with people, literally.

" Good night" Jeongyeon cleared his throat and said, turning his back and heading upstairs.

" Good night" Sana said eyeing him until he was out of sight. She knew that she would overthink about her own actions after that, but worrying at that moment wasn't going to help, so she got into her room with a warm smile and laughing with herself before drifting to sleep.

*


	18. Happy endings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay ;)

 

 

.

.

.

Breathing heavily, he forced his body up while magic enveloped his wrists, the blood around him didn't seem to affect his spirits as JaeBum was more than used to feel the warm liquid passing through his fingers. His forehead shined as sweat formed between his eyebrows, showing a deceiving expression of rage. He clenched his jaw, straight his posture and smirked, finding his last opponent not worth of much effort, letting magic disperse around him, making a thick fog mixing with the heavy winds of the end of the world.

If it was really going to end like that he didn't yet know, but one thing he had in mind, finding the people he swore to finish and do his work to make the world see that power is everything they need.

That same day something changed, and JaeBum understood that the only person he could trust is himself.

 >>>>>>

Rays of the heavy start of summer crossed their ways through her room, the disheveled curtains didn't stop the sun from covering her frame like light touches warming her body, Sana's chest waved up and down, slowly as paced breaths faintly escaped. If every day was that glorious, she would like to see the sunrise over and over again.

Still with her eyes closed, she was forced to keep wandering in dreamland, not matching her purpose to wake up and see that pleasant sky.

.

To the sound of the kitchen supplies accompanied with the noises of his own work, Jeongyeon walked side to side, focused in doing his beloved breakfast. He was preparing it for the others as the guy was the first to wake up that morning, it was curious how his mind kept playing the scene from the other night and it was difficult to think about anything than Sana, even the way he unhesitating promised to tell her everything, really meaning it, like Sana opened doors he wasn't able to see before. He fixed his hair, looking at the prepared food distractedly, his blond locks softly layering to complete his image, he was happy that day, lighter, smiling in contrast with the summer rays, a welcoming mood, he was just waiting for her, trying not to mind the nervousness coming closer to his right state of mind.

Jeongyeon strolled around, thinking, content with his doings, he wasn't much of a chef but he did work in a restaurant long enough to know a thing or two, the family business. Besides the hidden magic of course. However, he ate first, just to skip to somewhere when he saw Tzuyu approaching the breakfast table, the younger looked pleased, even Tzuyu liked when the morning started radiant, it reminded him of his dogs far away from there and it became so evident, he was smiling a bit, making an exception from his usual serious self.

Maybe it was a good sight the way a set of clouds covered the house, making it unexpectantly dark compared with the streets, Mina was with just one of her crutches somehow and walking slowly to her objective, one step after another as she reached a window, closed it, for then to cross a small space to the kitchen, Tzuyu was washing the dishes distractedly while Jeongyeon helped him, a perfect harmony between the duo, the latter just stopped to help Mina pulling a chair to sit down, she looked around, trying to find some missing piece, expecting to encounter more but, a few things misplaced, she ended up shrugging that off than worrying about nothing.

.

>>>>>>

The abstract concept regarding his sense of time came to his thoughts, JaeBum was more than serious about complying with his purposes right there. The complicated meanings behind his acts hid when he flashed a simple smirk besides his usual smile and that alarmed a lot of people, intruders especially.

Isolating himself in a way to only train his powers, JaeBum didn't know anymore the meaning of having something truly to himself, until he saw that opportunity, if Sana didn't want it, he would have it, this made him mad to a point were nothing mattered, even his own morality altogether with his humanity. Feeling betrayed, he finished to drop the last body, he was used to it by now, and wiped the bloodied hands with his sleeves, changing from a smirk to a smile.

 >>>>>>

.

Fill with silence, time was passing, Tzuyu was with a box in his hands, lifting and placing equipment around the lab, the morning was turning into a gloomy afternoon which it was strangely fitting. He let his body rest when he got inside of the place and organized, just reminding that he likes his work well done.

Tzuyu didn't had much to say most of the times, just the tiny observations are enough for him to conclude if he likes something or not, and that is decisive about if he is going to stick with that or abandon into nothingness, unless he really has to deal with the anything in question. Opposite to his harsh self, he often is pleased around people, especially like Jeongyeon, which didn't demonstrate any threatful ways to be, being a good person to talk. He feels heavy in the last days, and at the same time satisfied. For many reasons he has to worry about them, doesn't usually demonstrate of course but he is there to help. Having those people with him brought a new spirit into his house, one he had lost a long time ago.

Tzuyu turned back to the extensive path back to the living room, and that was when he heard the first scream. Striking his senses in surprise, he didn't understand.

It startled him to the core when Jeongyeon rushed pass him into a hallway, pale as a white wall. Another scream came from the place and now he could distinguish what it meant, Mina was calling for him and, in that rate, he already knew that his knowledge would be highly necessary. He rushed and almost bumped on the door, Jeongyeon was there with an emotionless gaze right on the unconscious girl laid on the bed, she was bright and rested, looking as a being for another dimension contrasting with the dull surroundings, Sana was just asleep, possibly dreaming about a better end.

Mina was kneeled beside her bed, hand resting on Sana's forehead as other secured the girl's hand, cold fingers intertwined, Mina looked uneased and desperate with traces of tears slowly descending her cheeks, Tzuyu really wanted to understand what was happening and even how, but by then he had no courage to ask, comprehending that Sana had something inside of her beyond the understanding of anyone in that room, her magic still enchanted even in the most complex ways.

" Tzuyu" Mina called between a sob, even her breaths were being precise at that moment.

" Why isn't she waking up?" Mina said looking at the guy asking for an answer, eyes red, her hand was slightly shaking, the girl suddenly forgot about her injured leg as she kept sat still on the floor beside the bed. And then, Tzuyu's breath hitched, not actually knowing how to explain.

_' Oh... '_ The thought had crossed his mind; his steps were heavy in the direction of the girls. When he carefully placed a hand over Sana's forehead, a cold shiver passed through his spine, like static that encountered his fingertips, he gulped down a heavy breath and looked around for Jeongyeon, the other guy looked fixed in place, as seeming that time had made a stop, his eyes worriedly gazing Sana, as jaw and fists were clenched, perhaps in anger like he could snap anytime soon, his was sad, empty with the overflow of feels.

Tzuyu knew what he had to do, what was necessary, for that he needed to be the head of that situation. His stone-cold face was quickly showing up, not wanting to crack anything other than professionalism for Sana's condition, he crouched by Mina's side and secured her shoulders for her to look at him.

" I need you to hold on to me and get up ok?" Tzuyu asked, carefully guiding her hands to set on top of his shoulder, Mina was uncertain, he was patient to wait for her to understand. Both got up as Tzuyu passed Mina's arm around his neck and his hand around her waist to support her, then he turned around to the other end of the room.

" Jeongyeon, take her out of here and get back" Tzuyu said referring to Mina. The other guy seemed to advert his look for a second and gulp down a burning lump in his throat before nodding in understanding.

" No" Mina said when Jeongyeon held her other side.

" Take her to her room" Tzuyu explained and shooed them to the door in a quick hand movement, only now getting his attention on Sana.

Mina protested all the way, but seemed to give up when Jeongyeon reached with her the door of her room, right next to Sana's, they entered, the guy placed her crutches in the bed side as Mina sat to wipe her tears.

" I don't know what is happening" Mina broke the silence between them, Jeongyeon was about to leave the room and go back to help Tzuyu, he turned around and looked at her, her voice was small, wavy and quiet, different from how he was used to see Mina, that mostly tried to show how threatful she could be.

" Since I woke up... Something is different. I tried to use magic earlier but it didn't work, so I looked for her and... She-..." Mina covered her teary eyes with her palms, Jeongyeon looked down to hold his own tears, he clenched his fist.

" This isn't fair" He said between clenched teeth.

" She didn't do any harm to anyone and now she is the one suffering" Jeongyeon bit his lip in anger, hands closed along with the bits of tears forming on the corner of his eyes.

" She will wake up, I won't break my promise" He said, Mina looked confused but didn't ask any questions.

" Can you use magic now?" He asked, fully inside of the room again. Mina tried simple things but ended up being failures.

" Damn it!" Jeongyeon wanted to punch something.

" Do you think it has to do with her?" Mina asked, eyes shifting nervously.

" I should be the one asking" Jeongyeon said and messed his hair in frustration.

" Stay here, I'll tell you if something happens" He had this determinate look but underneath he already felt defeated by her state and condition, Sana was complicated.

" Jeongyeon" Mina suddenly called, he eyed her.

" Thank you" She said, he nodded and in seconds he was again by Tzuyu's side, feeling like a block of ice landed in his head seeing Sana like that, her face was pale, her body every now and then had a hard time to breathe.

" How's she doing?" Jeongyeon asked, his throat burned and his eyes sting. Tzuyu shook his head.

" Her health is deteriorating, her responses are fine but, it's a mystery why her body is becoming weaker, it probably had been a while since she isn't feeling that well" The doctor objectively said.

" Help me with a bit of things in my lab, we need to keep her alive and it's better not to move her from here" Tzuyu said passing by him to leave the room.

" Ok… Give me a minute" Jeongyeon said, gaze locked on the girl that still made his heartbeat erratic just for being her. Tzuyu mumbled an ok and left.

Jeongyeon walked with heavy steps to her side.

" Idiot, you should had told us if you're feeling bad" He said, wiping a tear that descend for a corner of his eye.

" Wake up" He whispered looking down, little did he knew that she wouldn't wake up even if he yelled.

Her hands were cold, he touched just for a second but didn't feel in the right to do that. He waited a couple of seconds, expecting anything.

" I need to tell you something" He said, about to break down, nothing was certain anymore, that could be her end, tears fell to his hands as he kept his gaze down, maybe she wasn't there anymore, he gulped and wiped the tears, his knees were weak.

" It's important" He said with a breaking chuckle, slowly resting his knees on the floor, Sana seemed more distant after every second, still laid there, just breathing, it was so unusual seeing her surrounded by silence.

" Wake up and talk to me" Jeongyeon put one of his hands above her cold ones and he stayed like that for a while, waiting for any response.

Just when Tzuyu appeared on the doorstep with a bunch of materials that Jeongyeon got up and walked to the lab to grab the rest of the supplies, he took a while to get back as Tzuyu was already taking care of her.

" Go tell Mina how she's doing" The doctor said shooing him.

Jeongyeon did his best poker face and walked to where Mina was fidgeting nervously with her fingers, she looked down but her gaze shot up with the sound of footsteps. Jeongyeon explained everything Tzuyu had told him about the condition and how they didn't know when or if Sana would wake up, Tzuyu couldn't predict since he haven't seen anything unexplainable like that in his whole life.

Jeongyeon didn't know how to put aside the blame that was growing inside of him, he was sure to fight anything that disturbed them, and Sana, so much for him admitting his love for her, she only seemed to get far when he tried to approach. It was hard to believe that one day he could be in peace with her, but, by that moment, he just wanted to be with her. The guy sighed and walked from side to side of the room, anxiety was starting to get him, his heart was thumping in a painful rhythm, it felt suffocating.

" I'm going to kill those bastards" Jeongyeon suddenly said, word by word, more like a statement, not finding any other actions in his busy mind.

" I don't think this has to do with them" Mina said, still with a shaky voice. Jeongyeon didn't know what to think after that.

" This never happened before but... She was always a weak child, her powers showed up when she was little and after that, every time she used them she passed out or bleed" Mina explained. Jeongyeon nodded in understanding, he sat on a chair that was there.

" I thought if it has something to do with that there's nothing we can do"

" What?"

" As I said, she wasn't an easy child, always tripping and falling" Mina said with a chuckle for the funny memories.

" Some times she had these crises where she became really sick but, her parents didn't take her to the hospital. I don't know how she became well again though" Mina explained.

" Do you think you can remember or discover how?" Jeongyeon asked widening his eyes.

" Probably but, I'm not sure about what's happening so don't create hope" Mina said shaking her head. Jeongyeon clenched his jaw.

" You search for it, I'll keep searching for whoever it's trying to hurt her" Jeongyeon said getting up from the chair.

" But, why now? What if it doesn't work? We have to know more" The girl said, he sighed, it was time for her to know something important.

" I know who killed Mark" Jeongyeon finally said. Mina's gaze fell.

" I remembered, everything"

"So, who did it?"

" That's the problem, it was a guy but I don't know him" Jeongyeon explained.

Mina didn't have the opportunity to grief for Mark for too long, so she knew she had at least to find the killer.

" I can tell how he looks like" Jeongyeon said, Mina looked up with a serious expression, having an idea.

" Chaeyoung..." She whispered.

" What?" Jeongyeon uttered.

" He works with this kind of things, I bet he can draw for us, if you tell how the person looks like" Mina said her idea, Chaeyoung had many occupations, maybe he could help them with that.

" Ok, we can call him later but right now Sana is the priority" Jeongyeon said dropping his gaze, he had many reasons to be mad, felling a need to act like that, trying to remain tough of some sort.

" I want to take her out of this" He said for sure, not letting the growing anxiety take over him.

" Me too, we can find the bad guys after she wakes up" Mina agreed with him.

" And then you can tell her that you love her" Mina bluntly said with a small smile, Jeongyeon immediately looked at her with his eyes widen.

" I know, don't need to hide, she will be happy to know" Mina said with a soft tone. Jeongyeon looked away a bit.

"... You think so? She doesn't need more trouble" He said, with a calmer voice, restraining heartbeat.

" But I don't think she would mind your feelings, she honestly enjoys your presence to say the least" Mina said not throwing any hints or making assumptions at the same time.

" Know that you have my support, you made her want to see the world again, and fight for her good, finally" Mina said with a gummy smile.

" Thank you for that" She completed weakly, looking down, a tear sliding again. Jeongyeon also looked down and put a hand above his heart, feeling it constricted, he closed his fist, looking tired, he was sad and just a bit content for the hopeful regard, the latter because now he was sure to tell Sana about his feelings, no need to hold back any longer.

" Thank you Mina" He said, she nodded as the guy got out of the room to search for Tzuyu, with a clear objective in his mind.

The younger guy was still there with Sana, finishing to arrange things and mumbling to himself. Jeongyeon knocked on the doorframe and came in, Sana's room was the always the brightest earlier but the dark aura of the clouded sky brought an obscure scene to place, the sun didn't covered Sana how it used to.

" Mina is... Hanging there. How is she now?" Jeongyeon asked gazing the girl, he wanted to let her know.

" The same in general but stable now, you can bring Mina here, I think she wants to be around for the time" Tzuyu answered, he seemed to be writing something on a paper.

" What are you doing?" Jeongyeon asked just noticing.

" I thought it would be better to observer any changes so I'm keeping a report about the situation" Tzuyu answered showing the data(info) he had already written, it looked smart.

" This also means that someone will have to update me from time to time so you and Mina have a task now" Tzuyu got up from his sitting place and pointed at the clock.

" I'll tell you the hours you need to see me and updated me with everything" The doctor clicked his pen and put in his pocket.

" Goodbye for now"

" Ok" Jeongyeon said as Tzuyu disappeared to the hallways.

Honestly, Tzuyu sighed when he got alone, the task he gave Jeongyeon was more to keep him mentally busy by doing something apparently useful than to help Tzuyu with his reports, being the head of the situation meant that the younger needed to do the necessary to keep everyone sane and so, now both Jeongyeon and Mina had a purpose that wasn't that needed as Tzuyu briefly molded it to an important assignment. A smart move he thought, before checking if he had everything necessary to keep Sana stable as long as it takes.

*

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I'm trying not to make this boring and probably failing.
> 
>  
> 
> This isn't the end ( bear with me hehe).


	19. Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

 

 

 

 

He used to look up for a new day, expectations high. Now he sees that a new course of his life had begun, finally dropping the idea of returning to his old normal life.  
Sana made everything better, like she had this force that pulled him out of restraining walls that kept him shut, offering for him to see the world as it was. But she barely knew it, that her presence was much important to him, although she did understand that for her, Jeongyeon was the right way, like he would be waiting for her in the end of any line, as he was there and it felt right to be with him, good. Even dreaming she knew that.  
.  
There wasn't much they could do, Jeongyeon helped Mina to sit near Sana, he positioned a chair for her beside the bed, and another one for himself a bit away, adjusted in front of the bed and aligned with the view of a window, where he could see everything in the room and beyond, Jeongyeon was there to keep an eye on both girls from time to time. That meant he was simply looking at her as she purely existed, Sana preoccupied him, every minute her stable pace of breathing delayed by a bit, he would already panic and seek for a way to help her, heart fast, but few seconds later Sana breathed right one more time, returning to stability and he sighed in relief. That happened more than he expected.  
Mina was right beside the girl, fidgeting slowly and falling in thought, disquiet about their future, everyone's she meant, if magic was like that as its paths were suddenly closing as Sana was fading to weakness, Mina had to know why, the reason and the purposes, it didn't make sense for how long she tried to figure out.  
Until she looked at Jeongyeon, that was looking out of the window.  
" Did you find what your father meant?" She asked startling him. Jeongyeon turned his gaze and shook his head.  
" Nothing yet" He answered, arms crossed as he stood serious.  
" But he must had known something that may help us" She said, eyes landing on Sana as Mina lowered her head, Jeongyeon could only see her side frame, her black hair covering her pale face, she still had a light bruise from the accident, they all had in some ways.  
" He could have given us a better hint. But I don't think anything related to that will help now... Just that it's about my mother apparently" Jeongyeon said, it hurt to wonder, thinking about if he missed something. Mina reminded herself looking at the girl that Sana's parents were also probably dead.  
" Your mother is the hint" Mina said trying to clarify his thoughts.  
" And I didn't know her even when she was alive"  
" Seeing like this, we need to start to know her " Mina said, Jeongyeon hummed, he was sure that the girls would find a way to do that, although what it had to do with Sana he still was to contemplate, but since his father guided his way to the girl, it would probably be related, maybe not but it surely connected with where he is now, there with her.  
" We can look into it later, when she wakes up" He said, voice suddenly lowering in the end.  
" It's ok, you can say if she wakes up" Mina reassured. Jeongyeon could only imagine if her sadness matched with what he was feeling, the thoughts of losing Sana would drive him to a shadowy path followed by the darkest place of his mind that he would wander, if he lost her, thinking about it was simply enough, he couldn't even imagine in never seeing her again, his heart pressured his ribs with the drumming sensation of suffocating, that girl had moved him too much from the beginning to the moment, fighting for her, that meaning figuratively or literally to keep her safe, his principal objective, even if he would fight magic itself.  
" She would probably be laughing of us for sulking so much" He ended up saying, that he could clearly envision.  
" Yes, and then she would tease us about how we can't live without her"  
" Right, and how the world can't live without her" He said with a chuckle. Mina sighed, leaving a tiny smile with the thoughts of a cheerful Sana.  
As a best friend, Mina thought about lecturing Jeongyeon regarding that if he ever hurt Sana, he would end up dead by her hands but, after a while, she just shrugged that off thinking that the guy probably already knew that speech. By the way he protected her, hurting Sana seemed a long shot. But no one knows the future.  
They fell in silence.  
  >>>>>  
Both sides were quiet, waiting for a movement or action. In the general spectrum, those who were considered evil were making the efforts to find Sana still, although the difficult situation they were in with the loss of Yugyeom and BamBam, JaeBum playing just for himself and his selfish reasons. Sana is indeed one of a kind, and from her side they were precisely wanting to move forward but being hold back by the troubles of her powers. What it lasted was to find out what side was going to make a move first.  
Considering how much JaeBum was striking down anyone that crossed his path, he was by himself, not obeying any orders of his mercilessly superiors, doesn't matter how close they were, JaeBum couldn't listen anymore of the bullshit they were making him follow, he gave his all and they took his pain to their advantage, now he can't take it anymore and that was dangerous. For everyone, especially for those trying to protect their loved ones.  
.  
.  
.  
Jeongyeon only noticed that he slept when he woke up, and in an uncomfortable position, sleeping on a chair was complicated to say the least. Mina wasn't there when he looked around, Tzuyu was, and the night had already fallen.  
" Mina is sleeping and you should too" Tzuyu said, distractively and with his arms crossed.  
" It's ok, I'll stay, you can go" Jeongyeon answered rubbing his eyes. Tzuyu nodded.  
" If you say so" The younger sighed and got up, leaving only the two in the silent room.  
Same from before, small gaps of a clear pace. Sana was lost in time, being preserved, a masterpiece, Jeongyeon got up and sat on the chair previously occupied by Mina right on the side of the bed, from there he could see clearly the marks on her face and how her eyelashes momently trembled as a reflex. Maybe he was too close so he leaned his body back on the chair as he tried not to be intoxicated by her and the flow of feelings getting back to him. Being aware of that was the worst part, that the reality sounded more desperate when he whispered out loud that she wasn't waking up.  
His eyes fixed in the casted shadows passing on the ceiling, his thoughts constricted by passing worries, Jeongyeon felt his body relaxing as he exhaled the air deeply, feeling a weight placed on his heart, inside that room was somewhat chill, magic itself played along around him but that was so unknow for him, the silent existence of his own being broke by a sigh, if Sana knew what lasted of him she would mock about how dramatic he was, letting himself down for a thing he can't predict. Jeongyeon was wondering if she could listen, just noticing that he was already staring at her gloomy self, a small smile as he imagined what she would say if the situation was the opposite.  
" She would probably shake me to life or drop cold water on my face, saying about how she saw it somewhere" He mumbled fidgeting with the end of the covers in front of him, he was indeed close.  
" And it wouldn't work" Jeongyeon said shaking his head, just to look at her face again. A sudden ray of light seemed to illuminate her frame, making it shine when a tear slowly escaped her closed eyes, Jeongyeon abruptly got up, chair swinging but not falling as he watched closer when the single tear traveled through her face passing her cheeks to fall on the sheets, his heart accelerated, maybe she was there, he slowly made the strain go away by a movement of his thumb across her cheek, softly touching her skin, the air was pressing his lungs as he held his breath, the same sensation remained around his aura, shadowy, morbid and sad, waiting for something good to happen.  
When nothing followed after, he sat down again, ready to face more probations.  
Jeongyeon just noticed a book on the side furniture near her bed and then his gaze followed along the place, just realizing how many reading materials it had with a shelve occupying a good space. He remembered seeing Sana once, in Chaeyoung's house and it was late, he ignored her and told her harsh things, now he sees that the girl was nothing but kind with him, even when he let his protectiveness interfere in his way of talking to her. It wasn't exactly regret, but with that he could recall how Sana thought and expressed herself about incredible things and ideas he was sure it wouldn't happen, and now he knows that her like for reading may influence her many strange thoughts.  
He ended up picking up the book, wanting to find out how things work for her or what she likes to keep near, flipping the pages not understanding what it was about, until one page was marked, it had an illustration of a princess, it seemed to talk about magic, Jeongyeon chuckled.  
 _' Really?_ ' He smiled with her choice of reading. The story didn't make much sense to him because it was a fantasy book but it looked interesting.  
Jeongyeon put the book on the furniture again, heavy heart, he came back to reality again just to get up and stretch a bit to let his frustrations go, walking side to side of the room spacing out, perhaps like that the tension he was feeling would go away.  
Well, it didn't quite work, he still was being drawn by that strange force that he surely believes it's love, not making he feel bad but it was too incredible too express how much he cared about her, the girl looked peaceful now but he couldn't let her go.  
He wanted to believe in magic, meaning that, he wanted to believe that it also could work on their favor. What if Sana was suffering and he couldn't help her or even know what she needed to make her feel better. His brain was flooded with a massive bad sensation of imagining her fading away, slipping through that reality and leaving him helpless, Jeongyeon got back to his position by her side after a while but that time he stood up, fidgeting nervously, if there is only thing he learn with her was never to quit and be hopeful. Sana was light to him, he wasn't going to let her fade.  
" Can you hear me?" He asked to her with an unknown expectation.  
" Of course, you can't" He said with a dry chuckle, he reached closer and took the bit of hair out of her eyes, he remembered how she looked so comfortable doing the same for him when they were so close before.  
"You don't need to worry, we're not giving up" He felt embarrassed with his own words and suppressed his smile, he wouldn't like the tease she would do if she heard that.  
" I'm waiting for you" He had his gaze locked on her face and hands near her, being brave.  
 _' What if I lose you? '_ He wanted hope to stay and conquer but it was crazy how he didn't stop worrying.  
" Come back" He whispered closer to her, face to face just to softly kiss her forehead, heart thumping in a raging rhythm, cheeks heating and he felt embarrassed for being that closer, breaths inches from each other. Jeongyeon wanted for anything to work, perhaps she knew he was there, or maybe they could get away of that bad situation and be happy in the end, together with the girl he fell in love.  
At that moment he didn't count with a tear staining his eyes, as he step a bit away but still close, the tear fell softly near her, Jeongyeon was staring at her closed eyelids like he could sense her making him drunk with her absolute beauty. He closed his eyes, perhaps it would be better, and whispered lost apologies before moving away, tears still shined their way out of his eyes. That moment he felt a sensation passing right through his chest, gripping or taking him out of there, as magic itself passed the way inside his body, and he felt even on his fingertips that it wasn't ordinary, they weren't ordinary. Although in the end, she was in the same state, dreaming peaceful endings and happy beginnings.  
" I'm sorry" He said one more time wiping his cheeks and siting on the chair again, attempting to forgive himself for failing with her, trying to be strong. He wanted a kind of magic that was only in fairy tales, the harsh reality doesn't allow such hopeful things.  
Jeongyeon cleared his throat, he shouldn't cry, she would be worried, he bit his lip and looked at her.  
" I miss you" He admitted, even if she was right in front of him.  
That would be a long night.  
*

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !


	20. Innocence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why am i nervous about this??

 

 

 

 

Years ago, things seemed much simple to the eyes of those who didn't had many things to worry about. 

A young boy passed the see-saw with heavy steps, hands clasped inside his pockets, the winter winds covering his pinkish cheeks. His small hands encountered the comfort of a warm spot on the swings, someone was there not too long ago.

" JaeBum"

He heard from afar, a tripping skinny boy waved his hand, with a wide smile.

" Hi" JaeBum said waving back, just forgetting his own wonders about the playground, or if anyone was previously occupying his favorite spot. He finally sat on the swing to wait for the older boy to meet him, it was exciting to see his friend again, so much that his heart sounded to go to his ears as the husky rhythm alarmed him. 

Im JaeBum was eleven years old when he realized that life wasn't that kind, even when he was able to find someone that brought him such a joy. 

" Here" The older boy sat himself by the other swing and passed JaeBum a pair of gloves, like he knew that the younger would forget them. JaeBum looked surprised with the unsaid need, his hands were indeed cold.

" Thanks" He said taking the pair of black gloves and smiling.

Their silent was pleasant, sure they could talk about games, food, girls, even the weather, but JaeBum glanced to his side while swinging his feet near the ground and noticed the other boy's sad eyes, perhaps he didn't want to talk, maybe he didn't even want to be there but, they had no opportunities to meet before that time and possibly never again if things remained in that course. Seconds passed, turning into minutes as they did nothing but eventually glance at each other.

" Hey-" JaeBum was about to say his probably final words, they knew that even being best friends, their interactions would be restricted for an undetermined time, maybe forever, it was now or never to talk about how he felt.

" Mark!" A woman's voice called from the way the older boy came. Mark immediately stood up and gazed back uncomfortably, he looked down to his feet, and then to the other boy.

" I have to go now, sorry" Mark said with a sad smile.

" Mark, we need to go! " Miss Minatozaki screamed again, Mark could already see her frame from afar, she was walking side to side with two young girls.

" But-" JaeBum mumbled. Mark bit his lip and suppressed his sadness.

" See you soon JB" He uttered and ruffled the boy's hair. JaeBum hated how the other blatantly lied to him like that, he knew that if Mark was really going to move out that day, they couldn't reach each other.

" Bye" Mark ran away like the cold wind, just looking back to wave to JaeBum as the latter pretended not care about his departure. JB has a hard shell, but if cracked it's difficult to repair, and that day he was sure that it was shattered into pieces.

The eleven-year-old boy still didn't know that the worst had yet to come. He walked into his house with his shoes all muddy and wet, his hands still enveloped by the gloves Mark gave him, he took his coat and carefully stepped to see if he could reach his room without making any noise. 

" Im JaeBum! Where were you?" His mother shouted coming into his sight.

" You need to study and now! I looked for you everywhere. Tell me" She commanded with a piercing gaze. 

" I-I was at the playground" He slowly said, he could never lie to that woman. His mother gasped loudly. 

" Don't tell me that you were seeing that boy again!" The woman said grabbing his arm. JaeBum looked away but nodded.

" I told you to stay away from him, his just a toy, and I hate the family he is with. That Minatozaki brats thinking that they have all the power" She exclaimed loudly. 

" And that boy, Mark, it's the worst, he's just an orphan" She said, it was the first time that JaeBum looked that angrily to his mother, the woman only noticed when a vase near there cracked as JB's magic started to react with his emotions. 

" What are you doing?" She said not letting his arm go.

" Mark is my friend" JaeBum bravely stomp his foot on the ground. His mother chuckled bitterly.

" Not even in your dreams sweetie" She said shaking her head. JaeBum was mad, the vase broke into pieces.

" I hate you" He said with all mighty in his lungs, clenching the gloves tightly.

The slap she gave him marked for some time, and he knew that the moment was going to be repaid by hours of magic training, his mother wanted him to be the best, even if that later costed the soul of her only child. 

.

Another town, another time. JaeBum indeed met Mark, years later, the guy was passing on the streets and laughing loudly along with two pretty girls, the older boy now stylizing a brown hair, much different from his black one but suited him perfectly, Mark didn't notice JaeBum just staring at the distance, one of the girls by Mark's side seemed highly affectionate to the guy. JaeBum thought he should be mad for Mark forgetting him so easily but right there he felt empty like he never felt before. 

The years did good for Mark, as JaeBum slowly faded to wear a mask full of evil intents.

.

The last time he saw Mark, it was after discovering everything he could about Minatozaki Sana. JaeBum figured out that the girl was one of the two that previous time. Even if a few years passed, she was always around, oddly enough, Mark really liked her, JB was always jealous. Now he had a mission, and the emptiness was there again when Mark lied on the floor to die in front of him. Now he was hollow, numb, like an empty shell that was once cracked by the sweet guy which did nothing but be a light in another people's life. Although JaeBum was just fulfilling his orders, he was sure that killing Mark was what he was meant to do on Earth, or what he would do to completely lose his soul.

They were supposed to leave that day, Sana, Mark and Mina, and JB couldn't let it happen again.

In the end, he still remembered Mark's sweet smile in that so long winter day when they were children. 

.

.

.

Mark loved Sana.

Sana did love Mark, but not how he would like to.

He thought they were soulmates, made and shaped as one piece destined to be with each other, that since the beginning when she made him feel safe, since their eyes met by any brief second and he was assured to love her until the day he died.

His fate was different as he thought about loving her forever, even if they were like soulmates, even if Sana only loved him as a brother.

Finding these kinds of bonds were an exceptional destiny for them and finding it for the second time was overwhelming.

Sana did know that, she just thinks that everyone that loves her gets hurt somehow, which makes her overprotective to them, and to the point to hide her own bad condition.

  >>>>>>>>

Weak, one of the common words used to describe those who don't use magic. Now they all knew, they saw with their own eyes, felt their lasting despair when in a fine morning, every single one of them failed in making the simplest spells and enchantments.

.

For most of them it didn't make any sense, but just for a small number, they noticed that whatever keeps magic going was being threatened and shut down. It connects with the whole point of stalking Sana. 

People had to have a really good reason to starting killing their own kind, especially if, in their case, magically trained humans capable of extraordinary things such as distinct abilities that were in a small number. Imagining what moved their people to the evil side was far from simple but yet, needed, of course, in their own vision.

As far as the bad guys knew, Sana had much power inside of her, that's correct, and also meant a huge capacity to do and manipulate magic, ok but, what does that really mean if people would look forward to the big spectrum (or picture) that caused the 'abnormality' of her existence, it's hard to tell.

For the matter, some searched about it when others couldn't care less, and yes everyone was affected in an indirect way, magic is unlimited but in the same time, its state and equality aren't; it can't be instructed or introduced by a mathematical number but, it can be analyzed as an idea such of a barely limited amount of existence in the world, that meant, straightforward, it doesn't end but it all can't be accessed. To explain that, magic had rules and stuff, obviously so, talking of common sense, imagining some sort of sources linked with each other to become an incredible extended and complex net from were a 'special' kind of people that had means to control, sounded much better than giving an actual and detailed analysis. They also figured out that just realizing that Sana kind of drained a lot of it to her own was a better way to see her power. The upcoming and consequences of Sana's unexplored direct link with magic (or the ideal of it) brought an impact in every single magic user, mostly to bad results. That's why she had to disappear, to balance and save them from whatever unfortunate events; it wasn't a rule though, but as stated, they didn't care and it seemed easier to make her go away than fitting her with them. 

The current situation was an example of it. If Sana's existence in the world stopped, her link would be broken and so it would shake the other links to a point when they couldn't handle with the dispersed amount of magic and like that, pass to an unknown state of balance. That couldn't happen, that's the whole point of the equilibrium. The situation she was now, let's say, between worlds, a resting state from her weak body, blocked her access and everyone else for the instance but just until the same balance was restored again. Now that, it was much complicated to do and it would by itself but no one knew, and so, caused chaos for much parts of their community, especially not knowing that Sana was deep 'asleep' in her maximum capacity. Her link, as it said, had to exist in some way and it was just too much for her to handle, surrender seemed better, letting it go, to fade, disappear and become just one mean to an end; magic played alone with their lives in its own way and little did they know that Sana was its favorite toy.

Killing her sounded better, effortless. They were wrong if they thought it would be easy. For their understanding, if she passed away, her magic would become an separated part were only they would have access, of course, that if they did every step of their plan correctly, and as in theory it's good enough, but in practice, so complex and that's why she couldn't just simply die and return the balance, that's why she was being pursued by an evil cult, that's why she desperately needed to run away, she wants to live, it wasn't her fault, she didn't ask for this and so she will fight until the forces inside her body can't contain the strength of her will anymore. 

Her eyes tricked open, lashes slowly ascending again as what it seemed to last a second passed as a whole minute. Her breath fastened, she felt drained, her cheeks were wet, tears still fell and Sana didn't know why she's crying when she just woke up, but her body ached for more and more tears even if it was unusual to see her so down. She wiped them away with the sleeve of her shirt and the ends of her sheets just to hear a gasp by her side, an exasperated Tzuyu with his mouth hanging open and also looking like he didn't sleep a second for the night. Sana fully opened her eyes and noticed how everyone in the room was looking surprised at her, so she covered herself until she couldn't be seen again. 

" What are you all doing here?" Sana asked from behind her covers, voice hoarse. Mina was taken aback, Tzuyu just dropped the things he was holding and Jeongyeon, he wasn't even breathing anymore.

Before that, the younger girl was sat at the end of the bed while Tzuyu was going change the serum and Jeongyeon was walking back and forth in the room like a guard in his duty. After Sana talked with them, the process of accepting that she woke up with any efforts like a normal Sunday morning when the person sleeps too much, was puzzling enough.

Sana took a peek from behind the sheets and saw Jeongyeon staring at her with curiosity, she immediately got back and hid herself again.

" Sana, are you feeling ok?" Mina asked, making an effort to sit by the girl's side on the bed.

" Yes, a bit thirsty but why are you asking?" Sana said confused, just showing her eyes as she looked around, sitting up to meet Mina, which eyed the two guys inside the room and then proceeded to smile to her friend, before looking down and letting a tear fall of her eye. 

" Mina, why are you crying?" Sana asked, letting her covers go to look at Mina. The younger shook her head and looked down. Sana glared the two guys and got up of the bed. 

" What's going on here?" Sana asked crossing her arms and pointing at the two. Tzuyu chuckled, Jeongyeon adverted his gaze.

" I couldn't wait less from you" Tzuyu said and crouched to pick the things he dropped.

" Mina~" Sana whined.

Jeongyeon took a step forward and tapped her shoulder.

" You passed out" He tried to explain. Sana mouthed an 'o'.

" For two days" He completed, Sana widened her eyes and fell in thought, she looked at Mina and pouted so she crawled back to the bed and hugged the younger girl.

Tzuyu left the room shaking his head.

" Don't need to cry" Sana said smiling brightly.

" Are you serious? You freaking scared us" Mina said whining. Sana looked at Jeongyeon and the guy just nodded, she kept smiling to ease the mood.

" Really?" She teased.

Mina giggled and finished wiping her tears.

" Even you?" Sana asked turning to Jeongyeon.

" Especially him" Mina mumbled, Sana heard, Jeongyeon too and he was getting red with a bit of embarrassment, the real mystery is how Sana could be like that so easily, her normal self.

" Here" Sana got up and offered her hand to help Mina to get up.

" I'm starving" Sana exclaimed.

" And I deserve some ice cream" She completed happily waiting for Mina to follow her, she passed by Jeongyeon and he sighed, wanting to facepalm and feeling an incredible relief in seeing her alive and well, strangely to say the least.

They ended up in the kitchen, dealing with Sana extensively talking about how she didn't feel like sleeping that much and insisting about food, Jeongyeon had to join and cook to bring her happiness and she was probably going to slow down a bit to eat.

.

Her body was still weak, since the beginning to that moment, the price of not knowing the actual consequences.

.

Tzuyu was intrigued, for a person used to exam and observe things, he was deep in thought, surrounded by doubt as he watched how Sana seemed as vivid as always after passing for such a trauma. He remained distant, as the older girl talked happily with Jeongyeon about anything that wasn't probably that interesting as it seemed. Mina was nowhere around, she found a way to keep herself analyzing her own ideas, Tzuyu wonders how a person so careless like Sana matched so easily with a strong head like Mina, it was her luck after all. Between a sigh and the rhythm of his tapping foot on the floor, Tzuyu felt someone tapping his shoulder, he was currently with his arms crossed, standing on the doorframe of the living room since it was pleasant to stay, he turned around just to see Mina standing there and staring like her eyes were asking for something. 

" What? " Tzuyu asked, really curious.

" I want to talk with you... about her" Mina mumbled, quickly glancing at Sana, the older girl was far and they could hear her laughing widely while talking with Jeongyeon which smiled and nodded, the duo was friendly with each other, regaining some lost time.

" Ok" Tzuyu agreed, nodded and followed Mina to the kitchen, a few meters away, where they could talk better.

Silence resonated for half a minute.

" Is it normal to wake up like that or?" Mina asked nonetheless, sitting down and fidgeting a bit distracted.

" It's truly surprising" Tzuyu answered, arms crossed again, he was leaned at the wall, staring at the girl.

" Can you check on her again?"

" If she let me. By the way, it's your magic ok now?" The guy was aware of that concern.

" It's kind of normal" Mina touched the tips of her fingers.

" How's that so?"

" It's weaker but working"

" Ok, right" Tzuyu pushed himself of the wall and left the room. Mina got up and eyed Sana again with a worried gaze, maybe she was overthinking again, but it was odd enough for her to wonder.

.

.

.

At the other side, Sana had just finished telling Jeongyeon a story about when she and Mina were little, Mark include. Jeongyeon felt a weight in his consciousness, perhaps if he tells her about knowing who killed Mark she would feel better but, she also could feel sad and Jeongyeon finally knew she was genuinely smiling and he couldn't ruin that, even if it was somewhat selfish.

Sana seemed to like making assumptions, about the future, the past and everything in between, about inexistent possibilities and absurd events, Jeongyeon quickly learned that she kept her mind on the stars. Sana was enthusiastic, smiling a lot. Jeongyeon gazed around.

" You should rest" He ended up saying, he was also preoccupied with her state, in fact, she was the only one seeming not to care a lot about her time unconscious.

" I think I had a lot already" She said, sitting down on the couch by his side, dropping her body without much ceremony. Jeongyeon turned his serious gaze, like she was used to see.

" Were you feeling bad all this time?" He asked, meaning it, changing the tone of the conversation, he sat straight and looked at the floor in front of him, Sana looked at her own hands, thinking.

" I didn't want to worry anyone" She said a bit reluctant, Jeongyeon felt like something just gripped his heart, making it run for an escape.

" Don't ever think about hiding these kinds of things again, ok?" He asked, trying to calm down a bit from his heart rate that accelerated. He didn't want to sound like that though, demanding, but that was the only way he knew to take care of her. 

Sana smiled weakly, hanging her head down. 

" It's ok" She said.

" It's not. Mina almost had a heart attack, Tzuyu had to managed to keep you alive and I..." He said quickly, gaze landing right on her eyes as she was already staring, the sparkles inside her brown eyes seeming to revive.

He gulped down.

" We thought you weren't going to wake up" Jeongyeon completed, feeling a certain urge of dropping all his worries right there.

" But..." Sana tried to speak but sensed her eyes tearing up, she didn't want to cry again, maybe he truly cared about her, like she surely cares about him. Sana put a hand above her heart.

" It's not your fault, I know" Jeongyeon said, sighing and leaning back on the couch, staring the ceiling as they kept in silence. The girl trying to ease the burden of her actions, she glanced quickly, trying to decipher what he was thinking, failing miserably as she got distracted with her own feelings about him.

Jeongyeon suddenly felt embarassed remembering the things he wants to say to her, which he right then didn't had the courage to say, even when before he wanted so much to let her know. Maybe he was a coward. 

" I think I dreamed about you" Sana suddenly said, she was staring his side profile and seeming amused with her own choice of subject.

" About what?" Jeongyeon asked nonetheless, rubbing a temple and still not looking at her.

" I don't know, I just remember seeing you" She said, practically mumbling the last few words. They weren't looking at each other now, Sana adverted her eyes, both rather trying to avoid mixed emotions.

" I don't remember much of anything actually, I mean, it wasn't like I knew what was going on" Sana said in a serious tone. Jeongyeon sighed again, trying to get rid of the heavy air crushing his insides.

" I didn't forget your promise though" Sana said, a mischievous smirk played on her lips, she faced the guy, which just stared at her with the corner of his eyes, his heart skipped a beat. Now he wanted to take it back. Jeongyeon was ready to say something but ended up with no arguments against her. 

" Don't even try to fool me, you're only leaving this place when you keep your promise" Sana said, graciously getting up of the couch and standing in front of him, arms crossed, so much for a change of subject, she seemed another person when her smile played along, like she had a mysterious way to skip subjects. Jeongyeon fixed himself and tried to balance his thoughts with an excuse.

" I think I can keep my promise but I don't see why it is so important for you to know anything about my time with Nayeon" Jeongyeon barely understood the words leaving his mouth, that was a try to get away from the situation. Sana puffed her cheeks, a sign of a bit of irritation for the lack of answers, she wasn't mad though, better saying, she had a few reasons about the inquire and she just needed answers, that's all. Perhaps she wanted to know more about him, or about how he actually felt about Nayeon, before and now. 

Jeongyeon didn't like when she looked at him like that, seeming to try to read his thoughts. 

" Ok" Sana simply said, quickly, dropping her gaze.

" I don't care" She completed, clearly not meaning that.

They stood still though, like trapped in the buzzing silence. Jeongyeon was the one bothered now, it was complicated. He was clearly a coward when it had to do about love.

" Fine" He cracked up after all. Sana seemed to bright her mood with the answer, bringing a warm smile to him. Jeongyeon rubbed his temples, he was the one to get up now to match the girl, but he started walking to side to side a bit, as Sana saw his gaze falling, she thought that maybe going through the subject could be a bad idea after all.

" Wait" She practically whispered, just feeling an oncoming sensation tightening her chest.

" It's ok, you don't have to tell me" She said, starting to fidget, she had a soft smile trying to reassure him. 

" I wanted to know because, you know, I was worried about you, I mean, about you getting hurt a-and it would be my fault, again" Sana left a dry chuckle in an attempt to break her statement and pass as a regular thing. Jeongyeon blinked slowly, Sana was clearly neglecting her importance, treating herself as a problem, and it made him worried.

Many fears kept him pushing her away, but the worst sensation was seeing her like that, feeling guilty. They were both standing up, he reached forward, offering her a hand, Sana gazed him curiously but hesitantly grabbed it and Jeongyeon was able to make her surprised when he stepped closer, embracing her, covering her frame with his arms, transforming the chill air in pure warmth as he hugged her closer, like they already had done before.

" I'm not sure about what's going to happen but if I can continue keeping my promises I would like to stay with you" Jeongyeon was sure with all his words, hearing the drumming beat of his heart reach pass him, matching as frantic as Sana's heartbeat against his chest. The girl was beyond confused and happy, she was in a state of mind just in peace, Jeongyeon gave enough space for her to look up at him, suddenly making the memory of not too many nights ago when they were on that same position. Sana smiled shyly, she liked to hug the people she likes, she took the opportunity to wrap her arms around him as well. If anyone could tell, they looked like the only beings existing in that universe, glad to be there. Jeongyeon avoided her eyes. 

" About Nayeon... I was kept tied all the time... They didn't physically hurt me too much... She said that she loves me" The guy felt Sana kind of releasing the grip, she looked down, he gently cupped her chin for her to look up again. 

" But I said I love someone else"

Sana's eyes widened, she stepped back a bit, getting away of the hug, clearly thinking that perhaps he didn't love her like she was guessing, maybe he was talking of someone else and just maybe she was reading it all wrong. He saw her hesitate and grabbed her hand, holding more tightly, he looked at her red cheeks and her eyes, his face was showing the same shade of red and he cleared his throat. 

" I don't want you to get sad about yourself Sana, stop thinking that you cause trouble to me or anyone here" He said, making it clear for her, by having to say that. 

" I-" She stumbled between words.

" I'm trying" Sana said, holding a breath, looking for answers, doubting.

Jeongyeon saw that, it was like he could feel that she was sad about it. He decided to bring her closer by the hand he was still holding, Sana smiled weakly and laced their fingers together in the heat of the moment, eyes hovering at each other, he bravely and gently cupped one of her cheeks, he guided her hands to rest on his shoulders, Sana wondered when she stopped breathing correctly. 

" I don't want to lose you" He sincerely said.

" You won't, and I don't want to lose you either" Sana said back, she leaned closer, their breaths were mixing, their forehead slightly touched, Sana smiled and it was incredible how she could take the air out of his lungs just with the gesture.

Jeongyeon wanted to be with her forever, he was sure now. 

" Can I kiss you? " He asked, moving dangerously close. Sana giggled and nodded a bit, just for him to understand as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Their lips touched slowly, Jeongyeon held her waist and brought her impossibly closer to deepen their warm interaction, Sana found her hands bringing him closer as they put a lot of piled up emotions in that kiss, like a wave of energy warmed up their hearts as the tiny sparks ignited inside of their chest, heart racing like crazy. They kissed between smiles in sync by all means. 

Sana pulled away first, she wanted to look at him directly in the eyes, Jeongyeon put their foreheads together and breathed in relief.

" Let me stay by your side, I love you" Jeongyeon affirmed, giving a shy peck on her forehead, affectionately looking at her.

" I love you too" Sana said, showing her lovingly smile and pulling him for another kiss.

*

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys, look, i tried.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> idk what i'm doing haha  
>  *disappears *


	21. Numb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good luck. Guess i'll try to end faster

 

 

 

Jeongyeon was clearly overprotective.

Sana was oddly quiet, clinging on Jeongyeon, watching over his shoulder how the guy moved around the kitchen, giggling whenever here and there Jeongyeon tried to do a bad joke about anything he could find, Sana smiled like she was the happiness person, back hugging the guy more tightly when he tried to free himself. She was really clingy, especially now that she didn't know when bad things could happen, it was so sudden that seeing Jeongyeon alone that morning was enough for her to hold onto him passing her arms around him feeling him closer and also trying to at least not to cause any trouble. It wasn't convenient but they could say they were liking, it looked normally usual, Jeongyeon's heart was racing at first, but he slowly calmed down when he realized he should had already get used to Sana, she is very affectionate.

Though the day was in the beginning, Tzuyu was confused, he had just put a step inside the kitchen to see that, he looked bugged, turned around like waiting for a unknown source of answers, then he looked at two again, one eyebrow up, Sana was still hugging Jeongyeon while the latter looked focused washing his hands on the sink, none of them seemed to notice how Tzuyu tried to find a way to question they two seeming completely normal with the skinship.

_' What's going on here? '_ The taller guy bluntly thought, only then clearing his throat, to call their attention.

Sana only let Jeongyeon go for a minute, to turn to look at Tzuyu which sat himself on a chair, crossing both of his hands and putting his hands below his chin, amused with whatever was that.

Sana turned to Jeongyeon again, the guy was washing the dishes now, she slipped her arms around him and whispered something in his ear along with a tiny giggle, Jeongyeon slowly looked at Tzuyu from up his shoulder and ended up shaking his head for the guy's expression before going back to his task, Sana smiled.

The younger guy didn't feel like asking, so he decided to ignore for now.

Mina entered the kitchen right after, she was used with walking with crutches already, although she may had forgot it a couple of times in the beginning, now it was more of a part of her life that she wanted so much to get rid of. Sana had let Jeongyeon go again to help her friend to pull a chair, then she sat on another one herself by the girl's side, Sana seemed to clear the space around with the brightness of her smile, Jeongyeon looked that he had a soft aura hovering around him.

They contemplated for minute, being all together had become pretty normal for them, but since something more happened, it was a tiny bit of awkward. Jeongyeon had his hands full, he turned to the table and placed the food there, just then noticing that they were all waiting to eat, by the moment, Tzuyu was already too distracted with something else on his cellphone while Sana had immediately started eating with the sight of food and Mina slowly picked what she wanted, Jeongyeon raised his eyebrow, wondering if they all noticed how much they were suitable with each other. For the moment, wondering could wait when he had an angry stomach so, he shrugged the thoughts off, sitting down to enjoy, realizing his body on a comfortable chair, he left a smile ready to eat but then, like something on the universe tried to interrupt him, the doorbell rang. He almost rolled his eyes.

Everyone stopped, attentively looking at Tzuyu.

" What?" The younger guy asked, not believing he had to be the one to get up. The doorbell rang again.

" You know the house is yours, right?" Sana asked in between bites on her food.

" And yet you spend more time here than me" He said, standing up, shrugging his clothes from nothing apparently and putting his cellphone on the table to go see who it is. It could be just a delivery or something he forgot to check.

Apparently, it wasn't, he looked out of the window before fully opening the door.

YoungJae was with his back turned, already far from the door and staring at the endless cliff near the big house, hands in his pockets as he waited patiently for a specific someone, it was like he knew or predicted that Tzuyu was the new to open the door, or even how he would take a while to answer.

Tzuyu wasn't aware of the detective's presence that day.

"Hello" He called the guy's attention, YoungJae smiled and waved for Tzuyu to come closer, which the guy didn't mind and walked to meet the other near the cliff, the blinding lights coming from the sun making him cover his eyes, YoungJae walked a bit more far, Tzuyu followed beneath that waves of sunrays. He stopped by the other's side and contemplated the view of the horizon, crossing his arms, YoungJae was with a plain object below his arm, he brought it up and Tzuyu saw that it was a laptop. The silence was only breaking by the wind when the detective breathed before saying anything.

" I found Nayeon" YoungJae announced, finding himself getting back a bit from the big fall in front of them.

For more that Nayeon was good at hiding, YoungJae was better at being a detective.

Now they were serious, Tzuyu frowned not knowing the actual relevance of the sudden subject.

" And?"

YoungJae hummed, opening the laptop and balancing it with one hand while he tipped with the other. Through a lot of folders, he clicked a file clearly good stored. It was a security video from a street, where the sun got down with shades of yellow, reflecting as Nayeon seemed afraid to see the light, the date was from one day earlier and the location was far away from any big civilization. YoungJae let the one-minute video play until the end, the girl was apparently hiding and going to knock on a door where she was greeted and got inside, a small house, the footage wasn't that good but that was clearly and definitively her.

" I honestly thought about not telling any of you about this" YoungJae said closing the laptop. Tzuyu nodded slowly.

" Then why are you telling me?" He asked serious, just then uncrossing his arms.

" You probably know why, from everyone you are the most rational, this is just another information for you, if I had told them at the same time their reactions would be unpredictable" YoungJae explained putting the laptop below his arm again.

" So?" Tzuyu asked, it made sense for him but he wasn't sure what he could do about that.

" So, I still have a consciousness and I need an advice. Do you think it's better to let them know where she is or not?" YoungJae asked, he was indeed in that business for a while but the situation was so delicate and it involved magic, sounded more reasonable to ask first.

Tzuyu hummed, looking forward to the horizon to think.

" Is she doing harm to anyone?" The air hung heavy.

" No, she is probably too scared to do anything" YoungJae was impossibly serious, even for him.

" You did good in telling me" Although Tzuyu was the youngest, he has a good sense of responsibility and dealing with serious matters. He finally turned to YoungJae.

" Don't tell anyone, keep the secret, we never discussed this"

Tzuyu turned back and glanced his house, thinking about the people there.

" We don't need more worries" He completed. YoungJae nodded understanding.

" That's what I thought" The detective said, opening the laptop again and making the file disappear, like it never existed.

" I'll keep an eye on her though, it's my job after all" He stated. Tzuyu gazed seriously at him, maybe trying to look threatful but YoungJae let one of his smiles.

" This dies with me" The detective said to reassure.

The younger was about to say something but before he could utter a word the door of his house flied open in a dramatic way, a hyper Sana came from inside, clearly having a lot of energy.

" The food is getting cold" She screamed and waved her hands in the air to call their attention, Jeongyeon was right after her, holding her in place as she almost stumbled on the front door, different from Sana, he was eyeing suspiciously at them.

" Food" YoungJae said with an amused and happy tone before passing Tzuyu with the rapid speed of his steps, already looking forward to the said delight. Tzuyu tsked and shook his head, keeping his calm while walking back to the house, patiently walking. He came to a stop, halting his steps to feel the gush of a colder wind, finally alone with his ideas.

" Let her live her life" Tzuyu whispered letting the wind take his thoughts away, he didn't know Nayeon and he hates her from making them suffer, but he honestly thinks that she is the only one that actually got away from that mess, maybe it was a blessing and maybe she knew it, Nayeon had an opportunity and she clearly took it, Tzuyu senses that the girl won't bother them again. Or else they could finally meet, and he won't be so forgiven.

Nearly inside the house, from the bright side, Sana greeted YoungJae vividly, not minding to ask what the guy was doing there that morning, while she accompanied him all the way to the kitchen.

Jeongyeon though, kept waiting for Tzuyu right beside the door, where the younger couldn't escape from him.

" What?" Tzuyu approached, feeling the piercing gaze.

" What were you two taking about?" Jeongyeon asked not caring and minding to care, he was inside the house and standing leaned on the doorstep, keeping a foot up to stop the other. Tzuyu froze for a second.

" Nothing interesting" He said shrugging his shoulders to prove a point.

" Really?"

" Yes, don't worry" Tzuyu passed by him closing the door, maybe he could get away, but then the younger stopped his steps, from his own wishes he remembered a thing. Jeongyeon also stopped, Tzuyu was squinting his eyes at him finally connecting the dots.

" You and Sana?" Tzuyu bluntly asked. Jeongyeon was unexpectedly surprised, he cleared his throat.

" Yes" He affirmed also squinting his eyes, waiting for a reaction.

Tzuyu smiled, like, genuinely.

" Good for you and good luck" He sincerely said, turning his back and walking away to where the others were. Jeongyeon shook his head, also smiling and letting a chuckle. They were something now.

  >>>>>>>>>

Destruction beneath the near untouched objects, JaeBum waited more five minutes before proceeding. Like everywhere he passed seemed like a battle.

" What are you doing here?" A voice came from behind his back, dangerously close, JaeBum wasn't expecting that.

" You're too brave. Or too stupid" The guy said again, JB felt a knife threatening to perforate his back.

" It's for you that I'm here" He half lied turning around slowly for their gazes to meet, thinking fast.

SeokJin put the knife down slowly.

" Do you want to die? Why are you here? If your mother sees you you're doomed. Really JaeBum, I got worried" SeokJin said slightly pushing him by the shoulder. JaeBum smiled.

" Since when do you care?" He asked smirking. SeokJin sighed.

" It's been hell here since you left" SeokJin trying to mess with JaeBum's hair but was easily avoided. He pierced his gaze.

" I left because she was using me, so I finally grew a pair and-" He was getting angry, it happened easily the last days, but he breathed in again, letting the madness go away little by little, he was back there with a mission after all. The place was much familiar, that used to be his house until sometime around when Yugyeom was arrested, and he finally saw that his life nothing mattered to his own family and that he had everything to be powerful from his own, gaining alone was better than not gaining at all.

They were outside the house, in a dark spot near the gates, since it was day he could see the movement around the place.

" What do you need?" SeokJin asked nonetheless. JB looked suspiciously at him.

" You know what I need and from you just silence, do me a favor now, go before they notice me" He shooed the other away.

" Alright, favor guaranteed, you won't mind if I maybe let the backdoor open right?" SeokJin said and quickly passed by him, letting a chuckled before disappearing inside the huge house.

JaeBum was waiting until night, he was there to retrieved a valuable item he didn't had the chance to get before and knew that the guy was going to help him, actually he had his whole life still there but just a few things that mattered by then. To fulfill his objective, he would have to pass his own mother, their leader. It didn't matter, he was already empty enough to feel not even a bit of remorse.

  >>>>>>

Since little Sana could see what others couldn't, a bad feeling wasn't just an idea for her, it took her air sometimes when she was so right about feeling something bad approaching.

The last time she was right, now she was praying to be wrong.

Before that day they discussed with YoungJae about the next step. Finding Mark's killer, the first task could finally be accomplished, the detective's eyes sparkled with the sight of justice. It was up to Jeongyeon now to let them know who did it.

The initial idea of Mina was to call Chaeyoung, one because he was indeed good in the whole painting people stuff and two, he was already into magic and all the evil side against Sana, he knew the situation too much and they couldn't involve someone else. Tzuyu was the one that called him, they didn't have his number since they throwed their cellphones away earlier so Tzuyu called Chaeyoung's girlfriend, gladly he had her number, apparently Chaeyoung was doing well and he would be more than happy to help again.

They were currently waiting for him to arrive, the night was coming closer, stars starting to color the sky with silver linings, the wind blowing made Chaeyoung's brownish hair swing near his eyes. He was already with a pencil behind his ear, trying to look like an artist of some sort.

" Hello" He walked in, a smile showing his dimple. Sana immediately hugged him like she didn't see him in years. Jeongyeon narrowed his eyes, he was behind her waiting to talk with the guy. They bumped their fists. Chaeyoung frowned when he saw that Mina was still walking with the help of crutches. YoungJae wasn't there anymore, he left to do a background check with the new set of information he linked with Yugyeom and BamBam, maybe he could find useful locations or anything really.

They were in the living room, Sana beside Jeongyeon on the couch, Chaeyoung sat on the floor with his notebooks, Mina sat on a chair facing them and Tzuyu was standing and waiting.

" Let's start" Chaeyoung announced. Jeongyeon looked preoccupied to Sana, his heart heavy with concern, he knew he had to open that wound for her but what if it was too much, he didn't want to see her sad, Sana noticed that he was reluctant and shined a smile to him.

" It's ok" She almost whispered, holding his hand to intertwined their fingers. Now he was sure that girl was the most wonderful being to him. She actually thought the same about him.

It took time for the sketch to be finished and Chaeyoung did a really good job. He was the first to contemplate and wonder who that was.

Right there was when Sana had the bad feeling, a bad sensation passing her stomach, a lingering grip holding her heart, she didn't even look at the result and was already scared to know.

" I don't think I know him" Chaeyoung said taking a good look.

" Wait" Sana said with a hand above her heart.

" What's wrong?" Mina was alarmed.

" I have a bad feeling" Sana said, Jeongyeon held her hand tighter, staring at her.

They looked at each other deep in thought.

" We can't get back now" Tzuyu said, they had to move forward and keep going if they want the pursue to end.

" He's right" Jeongyeon agreed, Sana bit her lip.

" Trust me, I'll keep you safe" He said, she nodded, let a small giggle disperse the tension in the room.

Chaeyoung got up from the floor and showed them the drawn, first to Mina, that eyed it curious, trying to find some information in the deep parts of her brain, the girl wasn't good at remembering faces, she didn't recognize and shook her head.

" Maybe we can look at the police records and compare, to see if it matches with anyone" Chaeyoung said, reaching his backpack to pull a laptop.

But then Sana saw the drawing.

" We don't have to" She said, everyone looked at her.

" That's JaeBum, or really looks like him" Sana said and looked down, it had been a long time she didn't see him in person but she can't forget, as said, most of them know who the bad guys are and Im JaeBum was no exception when it came with notoriety, Mina didn't remember much but Sana's memories were vivid and maybe was because of that she had a bad feeling, it was indeed JaeBum and she knew the demons of the past would come back along with his involvement. JB killed Mark.

Although she smiled.

" We can catch him now" Sana said, eyes lighting up with ideas.

She seemed hopeful.

" And that's what we're going to do" Tzuyu said agreeing.

Jeongyeon nodded, Sana leaned closer enough of him.

" Thank you" She whispered, lips dangerously close of him. The guy nodded and followed along with her smile.

Mina was just seeing the interaction, actually guessing that something happened between them and they were finally set up, she was happy for her friend, finding precious feelings along the dangerous ways through their journey, perhaps Sana was searching for that better than anyone there, even if Jeongyeon didn't expect to find the girl that woke him up to the world, they were there with all that sensations lingering for attention, and they were brave enough to keep it going and fight for it.

.

Chaeyoung was going to stay there that night. They informed YoungJae about the infamous Im JaeBum (not related to Nayeon in a family aspect) and he was going to do some digging to find more about him. For the rest of the night they just had to wait.

Jeongyeon being the last to stay up, passed through the hallway turning the lights off. Tzuyu had made them rest, even with Sana insisting again in healing Mina's injure, that would have to wait until the morning, the doctor said that it was better if she had a good night of sleep before putting her health in danger again. So, that justified why Jeongyeon was still up, he couldn't sleep thinking about if Sana didn't wake up again. He was actually thinking about going to Sana's room to see if she was ok.

The last light on was from the kitchen, he doesn't know who let it turned. With quick steps he searched the switch but was very much surprised with the small scream left by a scared Sana that was holding a glass of water and almost successfully bumped into him, luckily Jeongyeon was fast enough to hold her shoulders. Then he quickly took his hands out of her.

" Sorry" She giggled.

" It's ok"

Jeongyeon walked fully inside the kitchen pass her and turned the lights off. He noticed that the girl was still there, waiting for him, she put the glass down on a kitchen counter. It was a relief, seeing that she was fine, but at the same time a burden seeing that she wasn't resting to keep her health.

Sana was deeply staring him, she was on his way, he got closer from her, but passed her, like teasingly. She glared him, a cute glare coming from a person like her, he noticed that with the corner of his eyes.

" Couldn't sleep?" He gave his attention to her and broke the silence, it wasn't exactly awkward, both knew they had to talk about what they were after all.

" I'm very much fine" Sana quickly stated, it was even comical coming from her kind of lively voice.

" So, couldn't sleep?" He asked again, not irritate but he knew she was avoiding the subject. She gave up.

" Not a second"

Again, Jeongyeon didn't knew if he was relieved or worried.

It was true that he didn't want to take his eyes out of her, nor leave her out of his sight for much longer.

" And what are you going to do?" His cheeks were reddening out of nowhere, maybe it was because Sana looked down with a smile, her hair slightly covering her face.

" Wait for the best I guess" She said, wanting him to make a move.

Jeongyeon sighed, stepping closer, she smiled, reaching her, like instinct she passed her arms around his neck.

" Why do we only talk with each other these hours?" Jeongyeon was really thinking about that, around them it was always dark when they were together, most times the end of a day or the begging of a new one. Sana hummed, giving a light kiss on his cheek.

" I'm sleepy" She said almost yawning.

Jeongyeon had an idea.

" Come with me" He said taking her by the hand to accompany him. Yes, it was dark but they were safe. When they started to go upstairs, Sana's heart raced. When they reached the door of his room she stopped, gazing inside.

" Are you sure?" She asked, Jeongyeon looked more scared than her actually, but he had a feeling to not let her anywhere away from him.

_' No'_ The thought crossed his mind.

" I-I'll stay up, right there" He said pointing to a chair.

" You said that you can't sleep, so I thought it was better for you to not stay alone and..." He said stumbling into words.

" Ooooh" She expressed.

" Mina had offered to sleep with me but with her leg like that I couldn't" Sana completed in understanding.

" Right... So, you can" Jeongyeon said pointing to his bed, they still were holding hands though.

He was about to drift away, she held his hand more tightly, not wanting to let him, he looked confused at her. Sana's cheeks were pinkish turning to red, she bit her lip, that wasn't helping Jeongyeon's thoughts.

" You can stay if you want" She said, sitting on the bed still not letting him go. She patted the place beside her.

" N-no, it's really ok, I'll stay over there" He said gazing a chair at the other side of the room, ok by then his heart was racing, she wasn't looking at him but when she did, well, Jeongyeon's brain stopped.

" You need to sleep too, it won't feel right you if don't sleep because of me. You can stay, I don't mind" Sana said surely, he couldn't deny after that.

" Ok"

They first laid turning his backs from each other, Jeongyeon with his eyes shut close, not wanting to invade any of her space, in a while he wasn't even moving. Sana turned to face his back moving a bit closer, they weren't that close but she already could feel the warmth of his body near her and it was good, she held a small part of his shirt, and slowly played with the end of his hair again, just to know that he was there, after that she drifted to sleep in a blink. Jeongyeon doesn't know when he slept, not even when in the middle of the night he felt her arm bringing him closer, resting near his chest, he laced their fingers together, his heartbeat against hers, she was so close, he wondered if he was already dreaming, the same for her.

...

Not so distant from there, the middle of the night, YoungJae cracked his fingers after taking a sip of his cup of coffee, finally finding something that perked his interest out of his researches. That one he preferred to keep to himself.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \o/


	22. Truly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look, a chapter! it's a miracle hehehhehehehe

 

 

 

 

To describe their current relationship was more like a bit of a challenge, bring up the right words or terms, they weren't normal for sure, their relationship also had a kind of peculiar aspects, knowing that it happened fast.

.

That week, Mina was a mess, she finally had accepted it, sleeping too much and eating too less wasn't doing any good for her. It had only been three days since Sana finally was able to heal her leg, magic is wonderful, it did hurt for her but it was all fine in the end, even for Sana, her abilities seemed good enough and holding together in her damaged consciousness and self. Kept fighting for it.

She saw though, how Mina made efforts to fit when everyone seemed distant, she always saw when her friend was trying to hide behind her words and remarkable acts, the younger girl seemed to worry less about the future when Sana knew that it's actually the opposite.

It had been over a month in general, since Mark died and Jeongyeon found that distinctive new path, a really rushed month. In the beginning of the end of the passing week, the night turned widely when countless stars seemed to disappear up in the wide sky, it was unknown to Sana why she had such a delight in doing nothing right there, looking up when she wanted to see it all closer, maybe she thought too much about things she couldn't explain. She moved lazily with the soft sounds encountering her ears, the music came from her cellphone, Tzuyu was kind enough to buy them new smartphones in case of any emergencies, Sana tried to distract herself standing on Tzuyu's house balcony at the first floor, alone for more unusual that it was, she wanted to be the one to protect them now, feeling herself getting better after a long time, the ghostly sensation holding her back seemed to go away if she would think about it, (which she did), Sana smiled scrolling over her playlist of sad songs that talked about anything related to love, it reminded her of someone, from past times until where she was. Soulmates. That was a thing she generally believed.

In terms of overall condition, they were stable, Mina was clearly fine compared with before, she didn't had crutches attached with her all the time, it seemed more natural, maybe Sana forgot that Mina could go upstairs without efforts, right to where she was. The latter took a few seconds to realize that the other girl was there, Sana looked like belonging to the breath-taking scenario of the night view, Mina realized what she lost all the time living with her incapability of walking upstairs in that sea of stars, she came closer to the older, noticing that Sana was super distracted. The balcony was big, Sana didn't seem to notice her presence, Mina poked her cheek, Sana almost screamed.

" You seem better" Sana said half yelling, she was still regaining her breath from the sudden appearance.

" I am, thanks for asking" Mina sarcastically said, Sana chuckled, taking one earphone and offering to her friend, Mina took and started listening along with her, distractively with the tunes played by the sweetest songs, they became quiet, well, Sana couldn't stand still, she was slightly pushing Mina's shoulders with her own but that was her quiet. Mina started to hum with her soft voice, Sana enjoyed like it had no end, another song started and it was a hyper one, taking them of the slow atmosphere, Mina chuckled, Sana smiled, continuing where they were.

" So... " Mina called her attention, a smirked played on her lips and Sana was already seeing what the lead was. She quietly brought up one of her shiny smiles.

" Are you happy?" Mina asked in brighter voice, Sana's cheeks were pinkish and she lightly hit one of Mina's shoulders.

" I am" The older said making an exaggerated gesture.

" But..." Sana stopped, gaze falling just a bit.

" I mean..." She looked around, lost from where to start.

" What's wrong?" Mina said, taking away they earphones to listen better.

" I think we still have a long way to be, well, happy" Sana said simple words that crossed a complicated view of the situation. She was right, as she always had been with the sense of their future, happiness wasn't fully reached yet when she knew that Jeongyeon wouldn't stop until they could live without being pursued.

" It's ok" Mina said passing an arm around her friend's shoulder, Sana lazily nodded. Unusually dropping her gaze, heart already thumping with the brief thought of a future.

" I'll do what's necessary" Sana uttered, and then grinned.

" I know" Mina agreed with a matching gummy smile, knowing each other for such a long time, sometimes it was like they could read each other's thoughts.

The cracks of the house made by the wind followed the silence away, the buzz of the loud music still playing on her earphones enveloped the moment, a door opened in the set of rooms in a hallway before the balcony, Mina, being the attentive one, gazed briefly but noticed who it was, Sana seemed more distracted than necessary with her new smartphone in hands again. Mina shook her head and took her leave, Sana nodded returning to her 'quiet' state, humming the melody right in key with the tune of music.

The younger girl encountered Jeongyeon still near the door of his room, seeming unaware while he cleaned something.

" Done" He mumbled, contemplating the insides of his room.

" Yeah" Mina startled him with her sneaky presence, she giggled seeing him almost jumping. He held his heart but then realized that it was just Mina. Jeongyeon sighed.

" How is she?" He asked.

" Go see for yourself. She's at the balcony" Mina said already turning around to leave. Jeongyeon glanced the place from a far, he could slightly see Sana.

" Hey" Jeongyeon called Mina that was already leaving.

" Later, after dinner, we need to discuss about something, tell Tzuyu to call YoungJae, I need to talk with him"

" I see, ok... What's it about?"

Jeongyeon looked more serious and so sure.

" My mother"

Mina's expression changed for a second, then she decided to nod and followed her path to downstairs.

The colorful evening turned into a bright night, that day. Jeongyeon didn't hesitate, he approached Sana surely, wrapping his arms around her waist, keeping her still when she stopped swaying with the song. He always felt that tingling sensation inside his chest with her, his heartbeat increasing and the warm feeling of showing the love for someone his loves. She giggled, smiling cutely to the sight of a peaceful Jeongyeon, like she didn't have worries and he was perfectly there for her, he gave a kiss on her too much red cheek, being clingy was her thing sure and she feels overly happy with him starting to show that side of himself, Jeongyeon was being sweet with her, although the adversities between them, they are really looking forward to develop that kind of love they were cherishing, to the future and beyond.

Although the hug was really cozy, Sana moved to put her cellphone down on a small table there, to then turn around and look at him. They both were smiling, Jeongyeon only brought her closer, Sana hugged him even more, slightly expecting for a kiss, he left a peck on her forehead.

"Can't we just stay here like this?" Sana asked in a sweet tone, even lazy, showing more sides of her personality, she hummed with her own thoughts.

They were protected there anyways.

Jeongyeon became serious even if Sana was sounding like that and cutely pouting. The past brought them together, the future might be uncertain but Jeongyeon could see that without her it didn't make any sense. He cupped her cheeks and, her eyes shone.

" I really want to, but we have to end this" Jeongyeon said, he gained courage near her, even if sometimes he thought that maybe loving her would make them weaker, it was only making them stronger. Sana nodded, already knowing what he meant, she was getting sleepy, maybe it was the welcoming feeling of him embracing him.

" Jeongyeon..." She uttered out of a silent moment, they stared. Things ran in Sana's mind like wild thoughts misplaced, she had a lot of worries for sure, mouthing them out loud was difficult.

" What are we?" The words almost got caught by fearing the answer, she knows how much he loves her and she feels the same for him but also, she was really nervous and sometimes she says things without her conscious.

He didn't look puzzled though, rather glad that the subject was brought, but still, a wrong step could make a wrong impression.

" Would you like to be my girlfriend?" His cheeks were turning a reddish pink, his heart resonated between quick beats.

" Oh yes" Sana said a little too hyper and it was funny, they both giggled.

She could finally see how Jeongyeon was a caring person, it enlightened her world.

 >>>>>>>>>

The meeting was quickly arranged, Tzuyu lost his track of thoughts when he heard a sigh coming from his side, everyone was gazing Jeongyeon attentively. It was later that same day, ended up with the detective showing up and not having much information about Jeongyeon's mother. Just one thing, that her years alive seemed a calm bliss.

Jeongyeon didn't understand, how much he should go deeper to know about the person that took so much care for him.

" Are we really going to dig this up?" Tzuyu asked breaking an unbearable silence in the living room.

" I don't see any other ideas" Jeongyeon, the most shaken with the situation said. It was like his life was being reviewed with new perspectives, it has to do with what they were going through, or else it would be pointless to make him chase their freedom.

" We can stay here for a bit longer" Mina murmured, being cautious with their next choice. For her surprise, Sana shook her head in disagreement.

" We have to deal with them Mina" She said, giving an actual thought to it, the consequences of her words, Jeongyeon was sat by her side and raised an eyebrow glancing at her, he didn't mind to ask but wondered if she was feeling as exhausted as him. And that he didn't want to happen, neither her to him. Perhaps that's why they were so afraid with losing time, now they see how precious seconds can be.

" We can keep going" Jeongyeon assured to Mina, which nodded in understand, having a glimpse of a future away from being afraid.

Sana had the same look as her, imagining, but in her thoughts, things were different, she was wondering if any aspect of where they were now would change too much after they possibly won. With aspect she meant Jeongyeon. Sana didn't have much trouble in finding a good amount of expectation inside of her for the both of them, maybe she was hoping too much. Although the next steps were uncertain.

Jeongyeon wanted to make their plan work, his mind wasn't as far as Sana's, that moment seemed to matter more than the next.

The room had a clear side of demanding ideas. YoungJae was slightly distracted, clicking on his laptop to show Tzuyu the things he found.

After analyzing, there wasn't much to discuss.

About Jeongyeon's mother, that was the path they preferred to go, to learn more about the past to know more about the future.

" I can tell she didn't live in the same place all her life, she moved from another town... And there is a thing" The detective suddenly brought that up. In that living room there was just a little of space between them to look at the screen of YoungJae's laptop. Jeongyeon raised an eyebrow again, a sign of rather contemplation.

" What?" He automatically asked. YoungJae squinted his eyes a bit, shifting them between the guy and the computer screen, he closed the laptop, there was nothing to show anymore, they all faced him since he was surrounded by them.

" It seems like she got married two times in her lifetime" YoungJae said, scratching the back of his neck, a delicate subject.

Jeongyeon blinked slowly.

" She what?" He said making sure to hear better.

Sana was with her eyes widen.

" I predicted you didn't know... It looks like she got married pretty young" YoungJae said.

" With whom?" Jeongyeon asked, trying to regard any pieces of information related to that.

" It's not possible for me to know, I don't have access" YoungJae sighed.

" Great" Tzuyu sarcastically muttered.

"It's classified"

" How?" Mina asked.

" I don't know, but whoever it is, they made sure to keep it hidden"

" Now what? Don't we have another way to know? " Tzuyu dropped the obvious question.

Jeongyeon seemed petrified, he clearly changed a bit about thinking about matters, now he actually gives a lot of his brain to wonders, before seemed easy to let things go.

" We can't hack them. These files are not in a database" YoungJae quickly answered. It was like he ignited something inside his brain, then his eyes widened, he had an idea.

" I think we have a way to do it though" He muttered a little lingering with the thought.

" We can steal it!" Sana suddenly pronounced herself with a tiny bit of too much excitement.

" Exactly!" YoungJae said enthusiastic for their surprised. Mina shrugged, Tzuyu and Jeongyeon were taken aback.

" You're a detective, right? That works for the police?" Tzuyu asked rhetorically.

YoungJae let a small laugh.

" Don't worry about it, we're just going to give a look at the file"

" So, you know where it is?" Jeongyeon asked with a false tone of suspicious.

" Oh yes, I do. When I discovered she was married I tracked the 'apparently missing' certificate and yeah I know"

" Are we really going to steal?" Sana asked to everyone. They stared at each other.

" I guess so" Jeongyeon said.

" Do you have a better way to know about her?" Tzuyu asked, everyone shook their heads.

" Wait" Jeongyeon said.

" I'll go back home first, to take a look if there's something I don't remember there or that I don't know" Jeongyeon suggested.

" Are you sure? It will be dangerous to go back?" Sana asked. He gazed her.

" I have to"

" I'm going too" Sana said getting up from her place with a determinate look.

Jeongyeon shook his head.

" I can't convince you right?" He said.

" No, you can't" Sana said smiling.

" Guess you're going too" Jeongyeon completed.

" Me too" Mina said, they all looked at her.

" I can obviously fight now, and someone has to" She completed.

" Alright!" YoungJae chimed.

" Me and Tzu then are going to see what may be done about the robbery" YoungJae also got up excited.

" Tzu?" Tzuyu whispered.

" It's Tzuyu" He said shaking his head, arms crossed. YoungJae squinted his eyes at him.

" That's it" Jeongyeon said and that broke the stares.

" Let's go" Sana said, already thinking about her unusual searching techniques to gather information to them.

  >>>>>>>>

The lights of the house were weirdly turned on, Jeongyeon parked the car while the sun was going up on the horizon. Their way back had a lot of bumps, oddly enough when a nostalgic feel for where was once his safe home.

He stopped for just a moment. Sana was in the front seat, head dropped to the side as she rested. Jeongyeon didn't realize that she was staring at him, admiring his side profile.

" You ok?" Sana had asked when he parked, she wanted to understand what was happening to him, seeking his hand then squeezing it asking for answer. His hands were cold.

Mina had already moved to the surroundings of the place to see if they were safe, what left the other two less alarmed. Jeongyeon didn't want to worry her. More than they can be.

" I guess" He simply nodded, intertwining his fingers with hers, taking note that that would be his last lie.

Sana leaned closer to give a small kiss on his cheek, lingering a little bit to rest her forehead on his shoulder, looking down.

He smiled from the side, giving a peck to the top of her head, the smell of her shampoo was the only thing he could sense.

Mina knocked on the door just in time, they got out at the chilly air of the dawn and followed to the said house full of memories.

He wishes they gave a good burier to his father, yet, he still has to know where the grave is. Being played as a fugitive did made the rest of his almost nonexistent family get away from him, although he only knows a few members of his mother family still alive, he thought that indeed his father's family was always the bigger mystery, now he sees that looking for his mother was even more dangerous.

That was the second time he felt empty getting inside of that place. The first was when he was a child and realized that his mother wasn't coming back. Although he had Sana now, holding his hand while they walked to where his father kept his precious belongings.

...

It took them half an hour to look into everything, Jeongyeon did found something he didn't ever seen before, well, Sana found it and how she did that he didn't know, with magic he guessed.

It was a picture. The frame was old and almost losing its color, gray, it was inside of a box with old objects, the picture showed Jeongyeon squished between his father and his mother while they gave him kisses on both of his cheeks. He had to breath deep to prevent tears from rolling out of his eyes, carefully touching the sides of the frame to see that it had some marks of wear.

" You look cute here" Sana said from behind him, also looking at the picture. Well, if Jeongyeon would say he didn't had more than three years old at the picture. He almost chuckled.

" What? It's the truth" Sana affirmed.

The door of one room swung open to reveal Mina, sighing.

" Nothing" She said approaching.

" What's this?" She asked noticing the object, Jeongyeon passed her the frame.

" Oh" Mina sounded a bit sad, with an understanding look. But that was Mina, she also noticed what the duo didn't, a disheveled part in the back side of the frame.

" Look at this" She showed them, Jeongyeon arched his eyebrows.

" May I?" Mina asked, she wanted to remove the back part of the frame to take the picture of it. It was a delicate work at least. Jeongyeon thought it didn't do any harm.

" Yes"

She slowly took off the back part. It release some sort of magic glow. The noise of something falling made they all look down to the floor, Sana crouched and picked up a small object that fell from the small gap inside of the frame.

A chain of some sort, with an even smaller object. It more like a thing with a chain to hold it together, it cracked in two pieces, they were together but it fell apart when hit the floor, it was all gray surrounded by a golden chair, really weird.

" What's this?" Mina took it from the floor, put it together and showed it to they all to see while it swung on the air as bright as it could be, the chain looked made of pure gold as it interlaced on her fingers. It had a marking though.

Jeongyeon took the picture from Mina first, it had his name on the back, along with his age.

_' 2 and a half years old'_

" Let me see it" Sana mumbled looking closer at the thing, distracted.

" I guess this thing has magic" She ended up saying and also handling it to Jeongyeon.

" Really? " Mina asked for it, not actually surprised by then.

" And I think I have seen this before" Mina pointed at a detail at it.

" What?" Jeongyeon asked, also seeing it closer, even if he wasn't going to help in any ways.

" That means?"

" If it has magic proprieties I have to look at the records to see if it belongs to anyone"

" Right"

" Did you find anything else?" Mina asked them. They both shook their heads, Jeongyeon put the picture back on the frame, and put the odd object in his pocket.

...

With nothing more to look at, they had to leave again. The town seemed smaller when Jeongyeon looked back at it to see it getting far away, Mina was driving, Sana was already fast asleep half leaned on him, she had the picture of his family resting on her lap, where she held it closer. Jeongyeon smiled a bit before closing his eyes.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone, sorry for the delay, things have been stressful * sigh * , i hope the chapter is good enough, if it isn't ...well...i did my best for the moment :), remaining in the same line of thoughts it's difficult, I may be missing something. Anyways, thanks for reading :))


	23. For you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hotel room wasn't big, enough for a few nights, but they were becoming too many, his time there was unpredictably larger than expected. Perhaps the smell of coffee was already impregnated on his clothes. He wasn't sure. But YoungJae certainly noticed that the scent was the only thing he was familiar in that room. He stood up from the chair he was, cracking his back in the process, feelings his sore muscles. He had never get that far for a job, leaving his home town to help a group of strangers. He was too nice for the world, it was intriguing when things started to go bad for him, even before that morning. He had to do that. 

YoungJae peeked behind curtains, an old habit from an attentive person, before moving elsewhere to pick up his laptop and stuff to expect more interesting discovers for the day. Well, if he would say, he really made an incredible discover the previous nights, just needed to put a plan in action.

In a line of unpredictable decisions, he chose to not to tell the others what he was going to do, and yes, he kind of knew that if he succeed, the course of their fates would be changed. He just needed a victory for his side and, not finding a better way to accomplish, he left.

.

.

.

His parted black hair swaying from side to side of his forehead, the burning sunrays crossing his eyes as he seemed to move closer from an edge in the middle of nowhere, the rings of a bell playing from afar, he was walking with a very known sensation of awareness, like someone was purposely following every step he gave. It was true to say that, by then, YoungJae didn't have any idea where he actually was and that that hotel room was the only place he actually felt safe, even disliking it.

Although, he has to thank BamBam because the guy was the clue to the reason of him being there, it was because of an information in his files that the detective connected some dots and figured out about an important thing in their evil plans, a special object. He felt smart, beyond the expectations of his superiors.

He had to leave the small shop he was and, the middle of the street maybe wasn't the best place to stay, not a single soul could be seen and the thought of the wanted safety passed his mind, although it all fell down when he looked back, and just in the beginning of the street, a familiar figure appeared. Not that familiar though, it was the first time YoungJae saw him in person.

Anxious, he gulped down, lightly touching the sides of his pocket where the distinctive reason of being there was. He gave a step back, not afraid but he didn't expect in being with no exit.

Surely, he could run, his car wasn't that far, and he already had things done in that part of the town, but his experience told that it would be worse to alarm an apparently dangerous person.

The street full of noiseless houses, like no one lived inside of it, the familiar figure moved closer to him seeming to be more known of the place than himself.

YoungJae didn't move or flinch, now the two of them were in the middle of the pavemented road, waiting for an unknown turn of events.

" Hello" The so-called stalker said.

" I know who you are" YoungJae quickly warned him.

" Do you really? So, you probably know that what you have in your pocket belongs to me" The guy said, the detective didn't know how the other knew what YoungJae was doing there. Well, it was a really an important thing for the said stalker.

"You're Im JaeBum" The detective distractedly said touching the pocket were the small box could be found. Actually, that item was important for JaeBum, he was looking for it for a while, he even got back in his house for it but it wasn't there. Imagine his surprise when he figured out that YoungJae discovered first where it was.

The detective knew that it was going to disturb his plans and he had to have it, for their good, he just didn't count with the other being so fast in finding it as well.

The action made the guy in front of him snicker.

YoungJae wanted to punch him, just reminding that he could consider JB from stalker to killer. It looked like it was going to be the hard way, the guy smirked, putting the hands in his pockets, his smirk could be mistaken for a smile if it weren't from his devilish eyes.

" Give it to me" JB didn't say it harshly, more like waiting but oh so serious, he didn't want to be there, he had reasons why he lost that thing in the first place. YoungJae was more like a little rock in his shoe. And he wanted so much to take it out of his way.

That time the detective narrowed his gaze, trying to pierce the obviously dangerous impression the other guy wanted to give.

" No " YoungJae didn't hesitate.

" Detective, we can work together" JB said standing his hand like a peace offer. And yes, he knew who YoungJae was, it was getting worse by the second.

The detective didn't take him seriously and looked elsewhere, even ignoring, distracting the opponent. JB tsked getting annoyed for the lack of attention. Although he looked down.

" I need this" JaeBum said. That may have made YoungJae think for just a split second that JB was really pleading, but there were always bad things with the guy.

"Now" JaeBum demanded, clenching his fist. The detective knew how threatful JB could be, and seeing how the guy found him, it was truly surprising how Jeongyeon and the others were still safe by then.

Oh no, perhaps they weren't.

YoungJae sulked when he realized that if someone was after him it may be too late for the others. Tzuyu had to know what was happening, or Jeongyeon, or literally anyone that could give a warning. He slid his hand into his back pocket in a rush, finding his cellphone, stepping back carefully, not taking his gaze from JB as it happened in a split minute. YoungJae looked around and up to the sky, it looked like times where changing, when the sun decided to hid for the time being, dark, it felt lonely.

" You can't have it" YoungJae wanted to delay the inevitable. He wanted to be brave in times like that.

The punch he received was somehow slower than he thought so, the detective successfully stopped the next one in time to push his cellphone back to his pocket in a safe place before giving all his attention to the defying Im JaeBum.

.

 > >

Sana was always in his mind.

The feeling of being apart for too long was staring to be well known to Jeongyeon, lingering in a way he previously wasn't aware of. He didn't imagine that even living in the same roof, he would look for Sana in the middle of the day to see if she was alright. Although they were practically sharing a house, both didn't see each other every hour, Jeongyeon spends most of his time making plans, the house is big, while Sana searches for better options, plays on the cellphone, is loud, and watches TV. They were indeed a team, all of them together, dividing and conquering.

There was no way if he would describe how it cracked his heart in the middle of all joy when he realized how much Sana needed everyone there, and how she was thankful to them. It was delightful of course, to see her smiles every morning, and the way her expressions show how she is feeling through all the adversities, but at the same time what worried him was exactly that, because seeing for another point of view, how Sana could be so happy in such a sad turn of events. He didn't know.

But, Sana also didn't comprehend, Jeongyeon tried to so hard to be the mature one and blushed so easily with anything she did. It also made her happy the way he cares about her, well, she expresses herself differently from him but they clicked together just fine. It fills her heart, makes it faster, she's lovesick in the middle of their chaos.

Rain. It filled the deepest spots of the road near Tzuyu's house. It stopped the silence between them when they just listened the loosen drops tricking the windows. The lightness of the summer was replaced by the morbidness of the sudden blew of winds and the humidity of the raindrops falling, the darkness of the hidden sun was what could be seen when Jeongyeon stepped in the dining room that hour.

He could see scattered papers, a big part of the dining table was occupied by it, while in another end really near, Sana rested her head down between some of the papers, a laptop open in front of her, its screen already dark as she didn't move a finger to continue what she was doing.

Jeongyeon didn't know if he smiled or complained with her for sleeping at the dinner table. She could sleep anywhere, really, being tired enough. It was true that the previous two days they didn't had much rest, just searching for a better way to proceed, thinking, but they were literally so many places in the house for her to do whatever she was doing.

He approached with small steps, almost wanting to giggle because Sana was so much rested that her breathing could be slightly heard. Since she was laid on her crossed arms that rested on the table, her face half covered by the sleeves of her puffy sweater, she looked adorable if he would say, so much that he didn't want to mess with her. Well, not wanting to take her out of her state was much to say because Jeongyeon had a thing in his head that triggered when he saw someone so quiet and peaceful, he remembered the times he played pranks in people he lived around, his mostly victims were Jackson and Jinyoung, he wanted to laugh having a sudden flashback but he didn't want to wake her up just yet.

Jeongyeon decided to take a peek in what Sana was doing, the table was big and the girl was sat at the first chair at the end, he could move around and pass behind her easily, so he did, just to see that she was indeed searching for what they found in his house.

He noticed just a glimpse of what it looked like the chain of the object clenched between one of Sana's hand, linked around her fingers. He shook his head, successfully closing the laptop in front of her without making any noises, she turned her position just a bit, adjusting her head.

Right them he thought that it was better not to prank her. Just this time.

So, he started carefully reuniting the papers across the table, getting them all together and fixing the organized mess Sana had made. That only left the papers she was sleeping above of. He stood behind the chair she was sat, successfully leaning a bit to pass his arms around her and stir her out of her lazy nap, the chair wasn't a tall one, he rested his head on her shoulder, fully waking her up. Sana flinched just a bit, startled, opening her eyes slowly to see Jeongyeon with his arms around her, so she smiled, humming, getting her body up slowly as he adjusted himself.

" Good morning" She said in a sleepy voice, successfully making him smile.

" It's afternoon" He stated.

" Not for me" She replied.

He kissed her cheek. He loves her, for sure.

" Why are you sleeping here?" He asked softly. 

" I was busy" She said showing her work. 

" Take care of yourself first"

_She knew that._

_" I will"_

" What were you doing?" Jeongyeon asked fully standing up, releasing the embrace and letting her adjust her back. Sana felt on her palm as the material of the golden chain intertwined around her fingers, so she opened her hand as it stood there, Jeongyeon hummed as she gave him the object.

" Mina said she saw this somewhere, I was looking for it" Sana said rubbing her eyes.

" Were you really expecting to find it online? "

" It belongs to someone so yes"

" Did you find anything?"

" Not really" She shook her head.

" What are all these papers for?" He asked talking a look. It had strange readings in it.

" I was trying to find it on our files"

_' It must be a magic thing'_

He preferred not to ask.

" But I didn't know what I was looking for anyways. We should ask Mina"

" You go ask her, I need to find Tzuyu" Jeongyeon helped to pull her chair as Sana got up, after all he was just passing by (or was it just an excuse), she smiled as bright as the sun before giving him a chaste kiss to his cheek, parting to disappear in the big house to find Mina.

As for him, Jeongyeon reunited his thoughts, as long as the papers in the desk, and got out of there seeing Tzuyu apparently taking care of one of his cars. The rain had stopped for just a moment, waiting for them.

" Hey" Jeongyeon said approaching, there wasn't a place where the raindrops didn't cover.

Tzuyu wasn't paying much attention to the other, he was trying to fix some 'useless', as he likes to tell, pieces of engine in the car. Tzuyu liked to do the heavy work for once. And he did it well.

" I need to know if you're coming with us" Jeongyeon asked, right then, Tzuyu, which was almost leaning inside of the engine, faced the other.

" Of course, I will"

Jeongyeon wasn't surprised, he wanted to make sure though. Tzuyu was, well, the younger one, and even being smart he could be naive, Jeongyeon figures that that kid may be hiding some painful stuff inside of him, but Tzuyu wasn't easy to approach.

" And leave your life?" Jeongyeon asked a bit reluctant, sudden subject of such a relevance.

Tzuyu almost chuckled.

" Do you think so?" He asked, furred eyebrows. It was rhetorical, Jeongyeon didn't get that, Tzuyu indeed hid his reasons. Deep down, he just wanted something to cherish.

"Pretty much" Jeongyeon said squinting his eyes.

Tzuyu dramatically closed the hood of the car and wiped his hands.

" I have to. Someone has to take of you all" Tzuyu said, placing a hand on Jeongyeon shoulder. Even though he knew the opposite could happen (or was happening).

" Right" Jeongyeon shrugged his hand away and shook his head. Tzuyu left, grinning. Jeongyeon knew that he could trust him, they grew up with time, as much for Jeongyeon that didn't see how he started changed as he entered this one-way road, Tzuyu walks the same path (of maturity), they can change for the best, not even noticing it, and they can be what they want to, the possibilities were enormous. Tzuyu learned that he couldn't even miss something he didn't know.

 >>>>>>>>

Tormented by incapability.

Sana slowed her steps, stopping in the middle of the staircase, securing herself on the wall for better support, without noticing she was losing her balance as a wave of bad feelings took her excitement away. She truly hated it, this, every second of agony infringed to this magic mess she had become. Luckily, she didn't fell, she was faster to hold onto the handrail of the staircase although luck was the last thing she should count on. She put a hand above her head and another one above her heart.

" Sana? " It was like Mina's voice hang in one ear and disappeared in the other one, without noticing Mina was already in front of her, asking things she didn't comprehend, a sharp pain crossed her head before she came to reality again, Mina was kind of looking deadly worried, after all, she didn't want to pass through that again. Sana pouted.

" I was looking for you" She said, showing the chained object on her palm.

" What just happened?" Mina inhaled and exhaled deeply.

" I was a bit dizzy, that's all" Deep down Sana knew.

" I actually had an idea" She ended, exclaiming, taking Mina by the hand to the end of the stairs, the younger was reluctant, that wouldn't probably go well. Sana quickly found a plain table and put the said object on top of it.

" I can do a spell to search for it? But I need to look at your memories" Sana smartly suggested and that coming from Sana was a bunch of previously rejected ideas.

Well, it was true that she could do that, not all the time, but once in a while didn't hurt, they were that desperate.

" Sure" Mina was sweet, indeed she was, when Sana had those breakdowns she would be the first one to support. Her patient personality really outstands.

" Your hand" Sana said, Mina gently landed her palm on a standing one of Sana, that put her serious gaze over the said curious object at their sight.

At first, the table almost broke, and it looked like a resistant one, the release of magic over it was too strong though. Sana squealed and exasperatedly cracked a smile to Tzuyu that apparently was passing by and saw it all.

_' I will not ask '_ Tzuyu took a mental note but approached, he didn't care that much for furniture. Mina was absolutely quiet about it, that was pretty normal.

It came the time for Sana to finally get a hold of herself and do what she meant after testing a bit. She held Mina's hand tighter and the other one she put above the object that was on the table. Concentrating. As long for the two girls, they both could feel the same thing on their hands, as a magic connection bounded together to form an access, Mina felt on her consciousness, Sana was looking for a specific regard of Mina's memory, about the said image in her mind. That was the hard way to do things, the only way left for them.

" Found it" Sana said after some past five seconds, she quickly retrieved her hands from the object, Mina was sure she would find something, her memory wasn't the greatest but she was sure she had seen that.

" Ok! I saw a house. Actually, I saw a hallway" Sana announced with a bit of drama. Of course, she did.

Tzuyu taped his chin, thinking.

" And I know where it is" Sana said cheering up in the air. Mina and Tzuyu didn't seem to be on the mood to cheer with her.

" How do you know where it is? Do you see a map or something?" Tzuyu asked wondering.

" I don't think so. It's more like a feeling" Mina said. 

" Yeah, but I also saw the name of the street"

" Oh"

" And it means that you have already been there Mina"

" I'll see if I can remember" Mina said a bit curious. 

" What's going on?" Jeongyeon came from the same way as Tzuyu.

" This" Sana took the chain with her and showed in the air.

" I know where Mina saw it"

" Really? That's great Sana" Jeongyeon nodded and made thumbs up. Sana only smiled more.

" We should go there" She said.

They weren't dumb.

" We have a location now, I agree we should start there" Jeongyeon said to see if Mina and Tzuyu agreed. Apparently, they didn't mind, objectives were a good start.

" I'll call YoungJae" Tzuyu was the first to say.

" Let's go pack" Sana was already dragging Mina with her.

Jeongyeon decided to follow Tzuyu and wait for the detective. After a few calls, the answer wasn't good.

" He isn't answering" Tzuyu put his cellphone away, giving up.

" What if he's busy?" Jeongyeon didn't mean to say that too obvious regard, but it was all he could think of.

" Let's proceed without him, if he doesn't show up we can search for him" The younger said.

" Alright" Jeongyeon agreed but there was always that little of doubt.

They didn't know YoungJae wasn't ok by then.

.

.

.

Jeongyeon didn't want to be rushed but they had to move before their enemies. He was on the doorstep of Sana's room, waiting for her to finish packing her stuff, getting weirdly used with flying objects around the place. They weren't there for that long but she had stuff, too much stuff. The afternoon was falling into night. Priorities came first. She moved almost tripping to pick everything she had from that place, Jeongyeon really wanted to say that she wasn't going on a trip and she didn't need that much of things, but he held that to himself, at least that she would have with her, he couldn't change her in no absolute bit, he doesn't want to.

He helped her, actually, he grabbed all the package she was going to carry and was going to meet the others already outside of the house, they didn't have a break. Although, that moment Sana held him back by the arm, he was the one that almost tripped now.

" I love you" She said out of nowhere. It was like she glows when the sweet words were said. He had to take a step back, forgetting the things he was holding.

She really likes hugs, thinking that it was the best way to express how much she cares for a person. He gently landed her things on the floor, it didn't matter anymore. Sana was sly, always seductive. Maybe kisses were a better way to express. He gently kissed her, she did look cute with her flushed cheeks. He looked so attractive she thought, when he brought her impossibly closer to kiss her deeply, Sana's heart raced.

" I love you too" He said between breathes. She leaned their foreheads together. 

_" The others are waiting" He said, not moving an inch. She gave another peck._

_" Yes they are"_

_" Hmm. Don't push yourself to hard ok? I don't want to see you hurt"_

_" I won't, and you, don't do anything dumb" She said pushing his shoulder a bit._

_" I'll try"_

_" I want to make this work" She said._

_" I know"_

_They kissed again, leaving aside time, just to be together._

_They practically ran when Tzuyu threatened leaving without them, giggling along the way._

.

.

.

They thought they weren't dumb.

" We should get a gun" Jeongyeon uttered, randomly picking things up and throwing them in the trunk of the car, finishing to finally go.

Tzuyu slowly nodded, helping the other to close the car after getting everything done. Sana had heard, she immediately shot her head up from inside of the car to outside of the window.

" Absolutely not" She said with all veracity she could have, that wasn't much.

" Why not?" Jeongyeon asked shaking his head.

" It means that we'll shoot people" She completed.

" That's exactly what it means" Tzuyu announced, he just had stopped in front of her, but outside of the car of course. Mina was sat beside the other girl inside the car, just listening.

" It's for protection. YoungJae has one" Jeongyeon walked and opened the driver's door.

" And it isn't like they didn't shot at us already" He got in the driver's seat, adjusting it and the rearview mirrors. Sana was frowning when he gave a look at her from the mirror.

"You have a point" She mumbled, looking at Mina to see if the girl had any ideas of backup arguments against that.

" He's right, we have to fire back" Tzuyu had just got back from closing his house, he entered the passenger seat, also pushing inside of the car a bag with his medical supplies.

Mina had decided to drop her quiet self to raise an inquire.

" And how's going to shoot though?" She clearly noticed how they became silent. Sana was shaking her head, giving up of making them give up.

" Me" Tzuyu and Jeongyeon said at the same time, matching glares at each other.

" We need to get two guns" Tzuyu said like a bulb just light up on his head.

" And ammo" Jeongyeon turned the engine on.

Sana's protest was muffled by the start of the car sprinting out of there, leaving an amount of sand to be taken by the wind.

.

.

.

Still in that day, the same moment Jeongyeon and the others left Tzuyu's house, YoungJae was looking around a room he wasn't familiar with in any ways, a mysterious and beautiful woman in front of him.

" Who are you?" It was the second time he asked that. The younger woman didn't mean to let him confused, she was there to help after all.

*

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)) thanks for reading and patience my dear readers, I'll find the end of this! If you can, please tell me what you think or if is there something you're confused about. I'm also accepting suggestions, I mean, this story wouldn't exist without you all so yeah ;). Thanks


	24. Facts

 

 

 

It burned, sting in his throat as blood slipped from his mouth. YoungJae wasn't ok, he looked at the vivid blood that stained the floor, he still had the small box in the pocket of his jacket. JaeBum had no joy in hurting people though, he was only used to it.

YoungJae won't forget that feeling, of being powerless.

He didn't know how much time passed as he completely fell and laid on the floor with stained hands, his own blood and a bit of JB's mixed on his knuckles, giving up wasn't his objective. But the other was indeed strong, YoungJae looked up to the sky, perhaps he would die better if he looked at the heavens above him, even if they hid behind clouds.

He doesn't know why JB stopped, but the kicks on his painful body were interrupted, his vision was blurry but he saw when his opponent also dropped unconscious near him. YoungJae believes in miracles, there was no explanation to him for how he escaped from that one. Blackness was taking over his mind right after he saw the frame of his savior.

.

.

.

Later on, he wasn't able to move much from the bed he was placed, shirtless, only bandages enveloped the huge purple bruises in his stomach, JB did a good job in hurting him. There was no one around, the room was small, with a little of furniture and even less of information to be given, simple and neat, being a detective wouldn't help for that kind of environment, and more, not being able to physically walk out of there completed the bad situation YoungJae encountered himself into.

Maybe it wasn't that bad though. The glass of water left in the side of the bed was already warm but he drank almost half of it feeling it running through his sore throat, to be capable of calling help or the attention of his keeper, judging his situation, they weren't as evil as JaeBum, hopefully.

_' It's my best option '_

" Is anyone here?" His voice echoed with the clicks outside of the closed room.

It didn't take a minute. The girl was with a neutral expression, holding what looked like a bunch of medicine and closing shut the door behind her before stopping in the side of the bed.

" Here" She gave the medicine to him, he accepted on his hand, there was still some water left so he gulped it down along with the pain he was feeling.

And the girl had a beautiful smile.

" Can you walk?" She asked, taking the rest of the medicine into one of her pockets.

" Who are you?" YoungJae groaned trying to sit up.

" I thought you were a detective" She said, sarcastically, leaving a snicker after the regard.

_' But not a psychic'_ YoungJae thought, finally sat. She moved around the room and grabbed a discarded shirt for him, his own, that still had blood stains. YoungJae looked around again, it wasn't helping any of his wonders.

" Who are you?"

She sighed.

" I want to help you, I mean, we can help each other" She said, more serious this time.

_' I heard that before '_ He kept silent.

" I'm Park Jihyo" She stood her hand in front of him and smiled genuinely.

" Choi YoungJae" He decided to take a shot and believe her, that was this thing that YoungJae likes to call his instinct about people, judging and analyzing, and he haven't been wrong ever, so he shook her hand, taking a long look in the doubts crawling in his mind.

" Where's my jacket?" He had to admit that he panicked a bit, thinking that it was all in vain if he lost the box.

Jihyo hummed, also leaving the room to bring back the said item.

She gave the jacket to him, it was folded neatly. YoungJae searched in all pockets. Nothing. She was still waiting for him to say something, or at least ask whatever he wanted to know.

" Did you see the little box that was in my pocket?" He asked, rushed for his normal, the box wasn't bigger than his hand. She just reached her pockets and showed the said thing.

' Thank God' YoungJae was relieved, he couldn't imagine how to proceed if JaeBum had it.

" Can you give it to me?" He asked with all honest.

" Not so fast, I don't know if I can trust you yet"

" Look lady, I don't know if I can trust YOU, I'm the one being kept here" He shook his head and pointed at himself.

" First, you're not being kept don't worry, you can leave any time, second, I did mean, I don't trust you now because there's always the possibility of the tables turn and you end up with THEM" Jihyo was oddly calm, like explaining everything to him.

" You mean JB?"

" Not only him but yes, that's exactly what I mean... I know what they can do with people... You think you're doing good now, but they can make you turn sides if you're selfish enough" Jihyo looked down, full of memories of the early pass.

" If you're not strong enough they can get on your head" She completed, implying something.

It was dark outside.

" I'm not in this for long, but I assure you that I'm not here to betray my friends" YoungJae was veracious with those words, with intentions deeply meaningful to him. The purple bruises around his body were a proof of it.

" Ok" Jihyo sighed.

" Come with me" She was already leaving the room, expecting the guy to follow along her steps.

The illumination was poor and the surroundings were cracking, perhaps the rain of the afternoon was going back there, the place wasn't big, worn out with time. But comfy, YoungJae felt lightheaded when he sat on an incredibly soft couch on the living room of the house. There wasn't much to see either, not an apparent information of relevance for his detective mind.

" You live in here?" He asked, trying to get along with her at least, as purposely curious.

" Nope, not exactly" Jihyo indeed didn't spent much time there, it was more like home far away from home. She decided to sit on a chair to continue.

" What do you want to know?" Jihyo asked, ready to face everything.

" Who are you?" The first question that popped in YoungJae's mind again.

Jihyo chuckled just a bit, breaking an intense atmosphere, she knew it would get serious but she didn't intent to.

" I mean, how do you know who I am and who we are and who are THEM" YoungJae said, he was in a loss of words.

Jihyo hummed, she knew that time was going to come soon enough, actually she was expecting for that.

" Ok. I know everything because Nayeon told me" She said, YoungJae widened his eyes.

_' Oh shit'_

" You're the one who's helping her" He affirmed, getting up abruptly for his pain, clearly a bad idea, Jihyo immediately stood up.

" Yes, she is my friend, and no I'm not working with them... Neither does she, not anymore" Jihyo sincerely said. YoungJae was even more attentive now, he thought about running, but there was just something about that girl that made he want to believe everything she was saying.

" Why? Why are you helping me? And, how much do you know?" He sat down again, talking a deep breath.

Jihyo looked away, it was even a bit poetic, she gazed the outside from afar.

" Because of Nayeon, she is my best friend, and sometimes, even if she makes bad decisions, I'll be there for her" Jihyo sincerely said, and yes, she knew Nayeon, and the latter knew her the most, even before Jeongyeon and when things got complicated.

" I see. Where's she now?

" Safe" A short answer. YoungJae accepted, in fact he knew where Nayeon was and Jihyo knew he knew it.

" How much do you know? " YoungJae had to ask, Jihyo was waiting for the opportunity, after all, she was there to clean Nayeon's mess.

" I know why this is happening. They want the girl with the super powers, Minatozaki I guess, and Jeongyeon, right? " Jihyo implied. Actually, it isn't that simple, but they will get there.

YoungJae nodded, the girl was ready to proceed.

" And also, they are hidden in a unk-"

_' Wait a second'_

" Do you know Jeongyeon? " The question popped in his mind, if that girl knew Nayeon so it wasn't absurd to assume that.

" Briefly" Jihyo stopped talking, thinking.

" He is the most troubled with all of this" She said.

" How? " YoungJae was never that curious before, it was like he found a gold mine with that girl's information.

" Did he tell you how he got in this 'situation'?"

" He didn't tell me but I'm the leader of the case investigating their involvement in the murder of Mark Tuan so, I know WHEN he got involved"

" Ok. Look, Jeongyeon didn't know about magic as far as I can tell, for what Nayeon told me, they forced him into this. It was the easiest alternative they said. She didn't know why they need him but I kind of figured out" Jihyo said a bit sad.

" Hm, it makes sense. For what? " YoungJae couldn't stop. Jihyo was extremely serious.

" Jeongyeon is well, normal you know, he doesn't have magic or anything, right? "

" Right, he told me" Youngjae said, well, as far as he knows.

" But, isn't exactly like that, he is still one of them. In the beginning, it was the head of the Im family, I mean, Jaebum's family, that decided that Jeongyeon's could be interesting, they are so clever, he could be capable of doing what they want to"

" Which is? "

" Put an end in this. Everything, the world as we knew of, they want Jeongyeon because he can take Sana's powers of her"

" Holy shit, are you serious? How does this even make sense? " YoungJae exclaimed.

" I'm not sure if that's what they're looking for but for me is the only thing that makes sense" Jihyo smiled at him.

" Explain"

"Right... First, there's JaeBum, in the beginning Nayeon was only working for his family but then she started working just for him. For what she told me, he and his friends want to make magic known by everyone, that's what it means to put an end in the world we know. He is the one that wants Sana's powers just for him but he can't do that just on his own. It's impossible to just go there and take her magic got it?"

" Right …"

"Good" Jihyo made thumbs up.

" And what about his family?" Youngjae said, accessing the deepest ideas to follow the information.

" Their plans are different, they want the girl but they want her to kind of drain her? I don't know exactly, they said that the girl has to go because bad things happen because of her powers, but still, we can't believe those people, so I don't know, not even Nayeon knew for sure and she was on their side"

" Alright. By the way, the girl's name is Sana. And she is fighting for her liberty"

" Good for her"

"Also, the head of their 'cult' it's JB's mother, she was the one that noticed that Jeongyeon didn't have magic, not even a trace of it, I don't know why but he was born a non-magic even though that I know that his father has magic, and that, just the fact that his father was a magic user makes him a magic user. So, I figured out that Jeongyeon can be capable of use magic, kind of. And that's the only thing that makes sense for me. I could be wrong, their leader wanted to kill Jeongyeon too, so we know he will be discarded. I don't know if JB has the same intention though"

YoungJae was following but he had to admit that he was puzzled.

" So, he has magic?"

" Yes and no" Jihyo said standing up.

" Wait" He guessed they could trust her.

" At the moment we're looking to know more about his mother"

Jihyo hummed, many of it not even she knew. She thought a bit.

" Follow me" She said showing a way through a staircase, if YoungJae thought it was difficult to walk to where he was, the stars seemed defying, but he didn't have another choice, so following he went. They ended up entering in a room, seemed like Jihyo made a zone out of that place just for the investigation and it was amazing the number of things she had there, from written information on a black board to pictures connected by strings on a mural, she had everything and more. YoungJae was impressed, he saw his own work in seeing hers, but of course, about that situation, she had the best hints.

" That's all I know" Jihyo walked pointing at the pictures on the mural, it had most of them, even Chaeyoung, but it didn't have Tzuyu, and probably no one knows about the latter.

_' Good'_ YoungJae thought, that meant that whatever Nayeon knew, it didn't reach Tzuyu so it was most probable that his friends were safe.

" Nayeon said that Jeongyeon doesn't have any kind of manifestation about magic, and that there's a reason but she actually never told me"

' _Great'_

" Do you have magic? " YoungJae searched and successfully found a chair to seat down. The room was only illuminated by the lights Jihyo clicked on, isolated from the world.

" No, but I know about it since forever" Jihyo remembered vividly her first experience with magic, and so with Nayeon.

" I'm not sure if Jeongyeon remembers me, but I did meet him when he was Nayeon's friend" She tried to explain. YoungJae looked down, he wanted to trust her.

" She still loves him, you know, even after everything" Jihyo said.

" She just wanted to help" She completed, referring about Nayeon and her antics. YoungJae wanted to say that Nayeon is crazy, but that wasn't going to help.

"Jeongyeon moved on" He just said. Jihyo hummed, taking a look at Sana's picture.

" With her?" She guessed, pointing at it.

" Yes"

" That's unfortunate" She said, YoungJae raised an eyebrow, he connected the dots.

" Because JB wants for him to take her powers?" The detective asked.

" Nope" Jihyo faced him.

" Because JB want him to take her life" She completed, successfully making a mess out of YoungJae's thoughts.

  >>>>>>

" We're here! " Jeongyeon announced loudly, taking Tzuyu of his deep sleep and parking the car in the outside of the new place.

It seemed abandoned though, not that he found it bad, actually it was better that way because they could go in and out before anyone noticed their presence.

" I remember this place" Mina mumbled with sudden flashbacks.

Everyone looked at her, she lowered her gaze. There was a silence full of expectation.

" I... "

" It's ok Mina" Sana said, trying to reassure her friend that she isn't obliged to anything there.

" No, I want to know" Tzuyu bluntly said.

" It's alright" Mina said shaking her head.

" Sana, remember when we first met? "

" Sure. You and your mother started living near my house"

" Yes but, we stayed in a place with my family's friend first"

" Ooh, I think you mentioned"

" It was here"

Mina didn't have good memories of that place. Firstly, it was that she had left the previous house she lived in all her life in her home town to a unknow place a bit too isolated, she had a bitter feeling about it. Secondly, it was the creepy guy that lived alone there and she remembered being the owner and friend of her family. That were enough reasons to not to go back there.

She tried her best to explain everything to them.

"You can stay in the car if you want" Jeongyeon suggested.

" No, it's ok, we're going all together" Mina was calm from the outside but kind of uncomfortable from the inside.

" You sure? "Tzuyu asked.

" Yes" Mina nodded, Sana gave a look at her, asking with her eyes if that was the truth, Mina nodded, she had to.

Outside was muddy of some sort, they left the car a bit away in the other side of the road to cross a cobblestone street, meeting an inconvenient house where laid a quiet atmosphere. Jeongyeon looked around expecting to see a few neighbors, but they seemed isolated in the worlds inside their own houses, so that lasted for them to keep going in the same direction feeling at least safe since no strangers eyed them.

Tzuyu was the first to step near the main door, expecting to find it well locked behind the spent locks.

" Should we knock? " Sana asked standing by his side, they both facing the door in wonder while Jeongyeon and Mina checked the windows to see if they can detect something.

" I think it's empty" Jeongyeon got back saying.

" Nothing there either" Mina approached coming from the other side.

Tzuyu twisted the knob reluctant, just to find out the door simply open to their surprise.

They eyed each other with suspicious looks.

"We should enter" Sana said already stepping inside of the empty surroundings. She clicked the lights open to reveal an exceptional living room with a comfortable aspect.

The others followed her to the new discover and looked around trying to find any hints.

Mina had a nostalgic feeling, remembering those walls all too well together.

" Now what? " Jeongyeon said. Tzuyu was just ahead of them, passing the room and encountering a wide a poor illuminated hallway.

" Hey Sana" He called.

The girl, followed to where he was and stood right in the middle of the entrance.

"We're definitively in the right place" Sana said since she saw that same hallway in Mina's mind.

Tzuyu walked a bit there and noticed something.

" Oh, I can see" He said serious.

" What? " Jeongyeon curiously gave up in searching the rest of the entrances to follow them.

" There" Tzuyu pointed to the far corner of the place, since it was dark, he could barely see it, but it is exactly what they were looking for, the exact place where Mina had seen that same thing that they found in Jeongyeon's house, it was so obliviously hidden that only people that knew what they were looking for could see.

A painting.

They didn't actually know how Tzuyu noticed that the painting had a frame around it with the same symbol engraved in that weird object in the end of the golden chain they had. They came closer to it, and so Sana gasped and Jeongyeon sighed.

Meanwhile, Mina was still in the living room, looking outside of the same window they looked from, she was the one with the so said object, but she was so distracted that didn't realize when it started to react.

" Mina, come here" Sana suddenly said. She needed to see that.

By the time the younger reached Sana, Jeongyeon was with the painting in his hands and examining closer, of course, they didn't see anything much interesting since that the actual drawn in that frame just showed some random lines and dots, dead colors spread on a canvas.

At first Sana grabbed Mina's hand and started focusing on magic.

" Let's see if this has magic" Sana said standing her hand above it while Jeongyeon held it horizontally. The bright aura around her and the sparkles of magic surrounding the place made Mina realize why Sana called her.

" Can you feel it? " Sana asked, eyes closed. Mina hummed, feeling the static in the tip of her fingers. It did had magic, subtle, since they both felt it, could be a good sight or a really bad one.

After three seconds, they stopped.

Tzuyu noticed something again in that bit of darkness, he asked himself why he was staring at Mina's front pocket and why it was glowing a red light out of it.

" Mina your pocket it's glowing" He was standing in front of her, with just the painting in the middle, he pointed at it and everyone shifted their gazes.

Mina carefully took the chair out of there and saw where the red faint glow came from the metallic gray object, it seemed to grow wider for every centimeter she brought closer to the painting. They didn't know that the thing has a magical core inside of it.

" What the hell? "Jeongyeon asked, holding it and passing the painting to Tzuyu, it kept glowing though, stronger.

Sana bit her lip, suddenly she felt weak.

" Do you know what is happening? " Jeongyeon asked to all of them.

" I have no idea" Mina said.

" It's reacting to this" Tzuyu said standing the frame. So Jeongyeon brought it closer, but nothing happened. Sana was quiet, she looked down. He noticed her, finding it unusual.

" Sana? "

She was dozing of.

" What? " She softly said, just then looking at them. Jeongyeon looked serious.

" Hold this for me, I'll try to take the painting out of the frame"

" Ok" She stood her hand. The next thing that happened make them all scared.

The metal surface slightly touched Sana's hand and the chain was still being held by Jeongyeon but in the precise moment Sana tried to hold the object, if felt like burning her skin with fire and she let if fall on the floor. It still shone the deepest red shade, making a metallic sound echo through their ears, it spun like a coin on the floor. But when they thought it couldn't get weirder. Sana gave a step back, flinching and holding her almost harmed hand, Jeongyeon got scared and was about to reach her but when the metallic thing started to spin on the floor more and more like it weighted nothing, he froze and expect to see what would happen. Mina gasped in surprise when it quickly floated on the air and faster than the speed their eyes could follow, it threw itself at the wall, exactly on the place where the frame was previously at. Tzuyu almost had a heart attack when it passed too close to his face before he dropped the painting on the floor and silence took over them.

Jeongyeon was the first to move.

" Are you ok? " He asked Sana that still held her hand her chest.

" It didn't hurt me" She said, it was more of a scare.

Tzuyu was so curious about how it was just attached to the wall, like it glued, still glowing like it was charged.

" Don't touch it" Jeongyeon said since he saw what it almost did to Sana.

They all came closer to it, it didn't move though.

" I'll try to pull it" Tzuyu said.

" Carefully" Mina completed.

He secured it with all his strength and pulled to see if it detached of the wall but nothing. Later on, Mina tried but also nothing. Sana was going to try but, the reaction to her was the worst earlier so they skipped to Jeongyeon.

A cracking sound grew wider behind the wall at the moment he tried to pull it. They all stepped back but then, for much of their surprise, a squared part of the wall opened at the same place to reveal a secret hidden spot, not much big.

" What the hell? " Jeongyeon was with his mouth open in surprise when Tzuyu said those words, the younger was right beside him. Mina was by Sana's side holding her hand. Jeongyeon looked at the girls.

" Stay back you two" He said and they have a step back of the perimeter.

" Jeongyeon" Sana called him, she was with her eyes wide open. The metal object finally fell on the floor.

" I can see what's inside" She said. Tzuyu crouched and it picked it up a bit reluctant, the red glow was still there but fainter.

"Me too" Mina said.

" Is it dangerous? "Jeongyeon asked and gulped down, he was about to reach his hand inside the squared opening.

" It's definitively magic since we can see the marks from here, so, be careful" Mina warned. Well, he was already being.

Tzuyu stepped aside and walked to the girls that weren't that far, he turned his back to Jeongyeon and was about to stop but, again, a fine red light. Jeongyeon had put his hand inside of the opening.

" This thing is glowing again" Tzuyu gazed it and showed the girls.

" Can I? "Sana asked Tzuyu for the metallic object. She was about to touch it again, but the heat eradiating from it almost burned her fingertips.

" Interesting" Mina said just noticing that the red glow was growing wider when it came closer to Sana.

Jeongyeon had finished to take everything he could find in that distinct hidden place, it was more of a bunch of papers and what looked like an old music tape inside of a plastic protection.

" What did you feel when it came closer to you?" Mina asked Sana.

" Like it wants to burn my skin and, I guess I'm getting weaker since it started glowing" Sana was indeed making observations. Mina touched but it didn't have the same effect on her.

" I'll keep this with me and stay away from you from now on" Tzuyu said and pushed it deep inside one of his pockets.

Jeongyeon called their attention by getting closer with his hands full, his heartbeat increased by the things he quickly read in those files.

" What is it? " Sana asked, already worried because of the look on his face.

Jeongyeon passed the file to her slowly, the others quickly came closer to see it better.

" It's a birth certificate" Mina whispered analyzing.

" Who's Gong Seungyeon?" Tzuyu asked to Jeongyeon.

He was pale, the world was spinning. He didn't answer.

" His sister" Sana said, she saw it in the certificate, that it had the name of Jeongyeon's mother as Seungyeon's mother, no father registered.

Jeongyeon looked down.

Mina passed to the next page of the file.

" You have a sister? "Tzuyu asked curious.

" I... No" Jeongyeon's voice almost failed.

The next page, made Sana gasp, she almost dropped the file.

" A death certificate for... Gong Seungyeon" Mina said before gulping down.

Tzuyu was surprised, Sana gave all the files to Mina, which kept analyzing the truthfulness of that papers, while Sana slowly held Jeongyeon's hand.

He finally looked up, trying not to cry.

"Guess I had a sister" He said nonetheless.

"We can't be sure yet"

Mina cleared her throat to call their attention.

" I don't think it's fake" She said a bit sad.

The file indicated that the said girl died in her childhood, even before Jeongyeon was born.

Sana hugged him. Silence came together. Mina kept looking at the papers. There was a bunch of registers of property in the name of Jeongyeon's mother, but since Mina was passing slowly, a picture fell on the floor when she was reaching the end of the files. She crouched and examined it.

Her memories weren't the best, but she was able to recognize at least one person in that picture.

" Look, I found a picture of the owner, but I don't know who are those people with him" Mina said, Tzuyu was busy with his hands full of the files Mina had already seen.

Sana was the first to look at it, even her heart dropped, she couldn't imagine how Jeongyeon was feeling when he saw it.

It was indeed the owner, accompanied by a woman, Jeongyeon's mother, she was really young then, she had the same thing that was in Tzuyu pocket but around her neck as an accessory, the guy was holding her hand, but the woman was focused elsewhere, on the little girl she was holding on her arms, and they assumed that it was Seungyeon. The thing was, Jeongyeon and Sana also recognized the man, their hearts felt like stopping, the guy was the same one at Sana's previously retrieved memory that she shared with Jeongyeon, the same creepy guy that killed Jeongyeon's mother.

*

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it made sense ;)


	25. Sorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being a bad author hehehehe

 

 

 

 

The night lights startled him, the view of the falling stars was starting to come together. JaeBum woke up in the hospital, finding a bandage around his head.

_' What happened? '_

He actually didn't know, although he remembers the previous conflict he was involved with, JaeBum didn't think he was able to lose and even be that harmed in first place.

He put a hand on his head and carefully sat up.

" Finally!" A voice in the other side of the room called his attention. Behind the silver light of a table lamp, SeokJin was creeping in the shadows of the small space between a corner, sat properly on a couch, dozing off with his cellphone in hands and waiting, outside looked peaceful while he stared at a near window.

" What are you doing here?" JB slowly asked before fixing his gaze on the guy, twitching his view between the silence of the hallway and the other, a breaking pain across his head.

" I was following you" At least he was sincere, SeokJin stood up, just then revealing that he could be the most harmless person of them with his soft smile and pink sweater.

" Why?" JaeBum wanted to glare, he understood the troubles of the other being there but, they were friends after all, or the closest JB could get to one after Yugyeom and BamBam.

" Because your mother told me to"

JaeBum tsked with the answer.

" Why didn't you help me then?" He quickly thought because if that was the truth, it meant that the guy was seeing everything all the time.

" I saw who knocked you out and then I brought you to the hospital, isn't it helpful enough?" SeokJin strolled near JaeBum to sit on a chair.

JB lowered his gaze.

" Who was it?"

"Jihyo"

JaeBum clenched his fist.

" She's back" He groaned in a sudden rush of anger.

" I don't know where she is though"

" Why didn't you follow her?"

" You were going to die if I let you there"

" Don't be so dramatic" JaeBum said, already used to the other exaggerating statements.

SeokJin giggled.

" I don't. Look, I was there because your mother told me to take care of you and keep you safe, not fight when you're being dumb"

Oh, JaeBum truly hated to be called like that, even if the guy was older, he didn't have the right.

"Hm. And Nayeon?"

" No sight of her"

JaeBum mentally smirked, Nayeon was finally out of the game.

" And it was all part of the plan. I don't need you to protect anyone" He said serious, getting up from his place with all his forces.

" Sure" SeokJin playfully said.

There was silence for a moment, they could even hear the ambulances coming and going. JaeBum was thinking about the next step since the previous failed.

" What about you finally give up on them and actually work with me?" He said after a while to the older guy.

"I still can't, and besides, you do need someone to tell how your mother is making the plans and how they are going right?" SeokJin sighed, knowing that he was in an endless need to stay in that situation of prison with JB's family.

"Didn't you just say you don't need me?" SeokJin realized and smirked, JaeBum preferred to ignore that.

" Tell me what they're doing" He ended up saying to cut the subject. SeokJin fixed himself and started thinking.

" Well, for start, we're currently aware of their position, I mean where Sana is"

And yes, he knew Sana.

" What? How?"

" They're moving. Your mother thought it was better to give them the illusion of safety before actually taking their hopes"

JaeBum facepalmed.

_' They're all stupid'_

" Tell me where they are, so someone can actually do something" JaeBum impatiently said.

" You know that I can't, you'll ruin our plans"

" You and your stupid plans"

" It's better than yours anyways, we don't need to kill her like you do, just let her much hurt"

" Because you all are not smart enough to realize that that girl has to be gone"

" You're too cruel JB"

" Thank you" JB sarcastically said.

" Anyways, as far as I know, Yoo Jeongyeon is in the right track"

" You're going to let him figure out?"

" Of course not. Just make him enough curious, that's all. They're smarter than we thought"

" Yes, I told you"

" I remember" SeokJin sighed again.

JaeBum then had a thought.

" Think about how funny it will be when Yoo Jeongyeon realize how he's being played" JaeBum said chuckling.

" Right"

" Wait, I take it back. You won't know because my plan is going to work faster than yours" JaeBum said mocking him.

" Yeah, oh right, you just need that hideous imitation that's with Choi YoungJae and Park Jihyo" SeokJin joined the mockery.

" Shut up"

He chuckled.

" You're really not going to tell me where they are?"

" No"

" So, you can go" JaeBum walked around the room and picked up his stuff. He put a hoodie to hide the bandage around his damaged head.

" You need to rest JB"

" I'll rest when I die"

" Where are you going?" SeokJin asked, the other was near the door by then.

" To make my plan work"

" Your plan is awful"

" Shut up, your plan is the awful one" Although JaeBum was younger, he was used to treat the other like that.

JaeBum twisted the doorknob.

" Try not to kill much people"

He opened the door.

" No promises"

They left and parted to separated ways.

In fact, yes, he just wanted all of Sana's powers in the end. That was the difference between him and his mother. Although she was a terrible mother and an even worst person, she had the consciousness of knowing that Sana wouldn't give up life so easily, and the woman had a thing for finding out the best way to get what she wants. Even if in the end she destroys everyone's lives, she already destroyed her son's in first place.

  >>>>>>

YoungJae was recovering well, he didn't leave Jihyo's place though, there was like a gold mine of information.

" Is this? " He asked, standing in front of one of Jihyo's murals and looking at a picture.

" What?" She asked approaching.

"It's the thing. Wait" YoungJae pulled the little box out of his pocket, by then he just had opened it one time and it was when he found it. Jihyo understood.

" Yes. It's a magical artifact, like an object that someone linked magic with"

YoungJae hummed. He took what looked like a little metallic ball, not much bigger than a coin, out of the box, it even shone.

" Where did you get this picture and why do you have it?" He asked, it awakened YoungJae's curiosity.

" I got it from Nayeon and she got it from JB's mother actually."

" And you don't know what it does?"

" Firstly, I know that his mother was trying to make it disappear from him at the end. That's why it was hard to find, she had made a lot of things to make it gone before JB could get it back. What it does... I'll explain later" 

" Okay" YoungJae said thoughtfully.

" So, what do we do now?" He asked, standing up and fixing his clothes.

Jihyo gazed him briefly, she was thinking about it for a while and finally decided to trust YoungJae enough.

" Wait a minute" She said already leaving the room. For a minute, YoungJae just sat really far from the blackboard where he was writing and thought a bit before Jihyo came back, she had something on her hands.

" Here"

It was YoungJae's gun, he showed a smile.

" You can have it back now"

The detective quickly secured it in its right place with him.

" I have a question"

" Go ahead"

"Why didn't you just shoot JB?"

YoungJae kept silence and looked down.

" I was honestly curious about what he was going to say. Stupid right?"

" Right, but yet-"

" I know, then I thought I could actually win, I had no strength to pull my gun when he was about to finish me. So, thank you" YoungJae said with a small smile.

" You're welcome"

" Also, I have a question for you too" The detective said with a thoughtful expression.

"Which is?"

" Are you coming with me?"

Jihyo looked confused, she hummed.

" I have to leave now, and Jihyo, you know more than me so please, join us" He asked sincerely. Well, as far as she knows, Jihyo is safe there, in the confinement of the walls of that house, she had already made so much for Nayeon and leaving to the actual action was difficult to her.

" I don't think so" She said briefly.

YoungJae stood in front of her.

"I know how it is to think you're not strong enough, or brave enough to face difficulties. Believe me, I had my shares of bad experiences out there" He said scratching his nape and looking down.

" Wait, you know how to fight right?" He asked. She nodded.

" See, that's a start" He positively said.

Jihyo looked around, seeing all the work she had done.

" Ok" She answered, it pains her to see that she had to take that decision, it was the only way to save them.

" I need to call them right now and we can meet"

Jihyo agreed, there was nothing she could do besides that, jumping with all she had in that mess.

  >>>>>

The hollow sound of isolation.

They were heading to a hotel at the side of a road they passed earlier. Tzuyu was driving, looking around at the places they past.

" We're here" He announced.

Mina, that was at the passenger sit, woke up. 

Jeongyeon was busy playing with his cellphone and hummed, he was at the backseat, with his head rested on a window, Sana right by his side, looking at the passing trees and buildings.

 >>>>>

It was late, the TV screen turned on showed the latest news, the only light in the room. It played from sad to good stories that seemed to repeat a cycle, catastrophe seemingly compared along with happy endings. He wishes for something good to happen, for once. The lights and spectrum of colors were reflecting directly at Jeongyeon's eyes as he watched, or at least tried to, the hotel room had just one place to feel comfortable, so he was sat there, hugging the girl he loves as it felt like the last time he would be able to do that, it always does, the last days weren't easy. They were alone, Sana was sat in the edge of the bed, really paying attention to the TV and the media antics with whatever was trendy those days. Jeongyeon rested his head on her shoulder, arms passing around her waist as he dozed off for a while. He hugged her tightly seeking and finding the feeling of Sana right there, with him, loving him as much as he loves her. 

She giggled, something funny just showed at the commercial break. Jeongyeon didn't want to sigh and cut her mood, but it was slow and unconscious, she turned her head a bit, his nose slightly brushed against her cheek, she looked down looking for his hands, squeezing it a bit to expect for him to react. Sana felt sad whenever she sees someone sad, especially someone she loves. Jeongyeon's mind was in a lot of places, but Sana couldn't know that in the end it all zoomed to her. 

" Are you ok?" She softly asked, although she knew that the answer wouldn't always be positive.

"Just thinking" He simply said, adjusting himself just a bit to look down. They became silent again, Sana looked at the TV screen like it wasn't fun anymore, like it had no meaning, it wasn't passing anything interesting anyways. She gazed him with the corner of her eyes, he looked distant.

" I wish I could make you smile again" Sana said leaning back her head a bit on him, landing near his shoulder.

" It's ok" Jeongyeon resumed his wonders with a simple sentence.

" We can't change the past"

Sana hummed, still looking at his side frame with the corner of her eye, he was indeed handsome, but she could see the slightly pout on his lips. He passed through a lot, she wanted him to know that he wasn't alone if it depended on her. Sana leaned all her weight on him and as expected, Jeongyeon fell backwards on the bed along with her, still in touch with each other, Sana was practically half laid on him. Jeongyeon looked up to the ceiling, he couldn't pretend with her, so he was letting it all out, the sad look on his face.

"Jeongyeon"

He left a small hum.

It was more about him than her now.

"I'm here for you" Sana crawled a bit more up and completely laid by his side, she rested her head on his arm that was spread on the bed. 

" I know" Jeongyeon said still staring at the lifeless colors of the ceiling. She reached her hand to his face slowly, his blond locks were slightly covering his eyes, she passed her fingers through his hair noticing it, and making a mess of it. He finally looked at her, she let a small smile as his hair looked funny, he took her hand gently out if his hair and gave a small kiss at her knuckles. He was lost in her gaze, his heart thumping loudly, Sana blushed since he was staring, she looked elsewhere for a second. He moved sideways, completely facing her, and the hand he was securing, he moved to his chest, holding it on top of his heart.

His heart resonated, it was like Sana could feel his heartbeat on the palm of her hand. She blushed even more.

He shifted his eyes to not to meet hers, a single tear escaped Jeongyeon's eye and fell on the soft mattress. They were in a room with just a couple bed, while Mina and Tzuyu staid in another with two single beds. 

Sana understood why he was so broken, she understood like she could feel it in every beat his heart gave. 

He couldn't stop the world from falling apart.

She moved closer and wiped his tear away with a single swipe of her thumb. He looked weak. She cupped his cheeks.

But he didn't want the whole world right now.

" I'm only here because you protected me all this time, don't forget that" She said.

" The others also helped"

" I know and I can't thank them enough. But you know, you were the one that didn't give up on me"

" I fell for you"

" And I fell for you. You're a good person Jeong"

Jeongyeon broke into a sigh, shaking his head and looking away.

He could only remember how he got in that place, like walking fully blind through that new world. 

" I don't know what to do" He said with concern. She made him look at her eyes.

She was there to guide him.

" We can't stay quiet after everything, we have to keep going" She said, moving even closer to him. Even if they were tired.

" You're probably right"

Although insecure, he let her sweet words burn in his mind all the times.

" I'm always right" She said, finally letting his cheeks go to dramatically point at herself.

" That's not true" He mocked her.

" Of course, it is" Sana said vividly.

_' You're just too adorable'_ He thought and chuckled.

" Right" He sarcastically said and smiled a bit. Of course, Sana noticed it and it made her heart jump in happiness.

" There, I made you smile" She happily said, by then they were so close, like their noses were almost touching. Jeongyeon put a strand of her hair behind her ear.

" That proves I'm amazing" She completed. Jeongyeon moved even closer and captured her lips in slow pecks.

" It proves nothing" He said, moving one of his hands to her waist and bringing her closer.

Sana slightly brushed their noses together. She was really enjoying the moment. Jeongyeon cupped her cheek gently, and closed the gap once more, meeting her halfway, Sana started kissing him with intensity, like she wanted her body to talk all the words she wanted him to know, their lips crashed against each other, their tongues danced together, and when they didn't have more air to last, they fell apart. Smiling. Jeongyeon was panting, Sana was the same, he put their foreheads together and closed his eyes. She was almost on top of him, but she hugged him sideways and rested her head on his chest. Jeongyeon felt, well, hot in general, he also hugged her, passing his arms around her and bringing her impossibly closer. Sana's soft giggles made him want to hold her forever in his arms, to say how intense are his feelings for her, how much he wants to make her happy every day. Jeongyeon wasn't exactly good with lovely speeches or sweet talk, but he could give it a try for her. He gave a small peck on her forehead.

" I'll still be mine in the end, right? " He mindfully said. Sana looked at him with a playfully smile.

" I never said I'm yours" She said stiffing a laugh. Jeongyeon got a bit up supporting in his elbows, what also made her get up.

" You kidding right? " He asked.

" Yes silly, I'm all yours" She giggled. Jeongyeon sighed in relief.

_' She's going to cause me a heart attack'_

" I love you too Jeongyeon " Sana practically tackled him down with the tightest hug she could give.

He felt better like that.

They were interrupted by a sudden rush of knocks on the door. Jeongyeon gave a peck at Sana's lips and lazily walked to open the door. 

It was Tzuyu, with his hair messy and seeming like he was sleeping, Mina was no better, still yawning behind him.

" It's YoungJae" Tzuyu announced, showing his cellphone and rubbing his eyes. They entered the room, all reunited to hear what the detective had to say.

***" Are the others with you? *** YoungJae asked.

" Yes, we're all here, I'll put you on speaker"

Everyone was listening to the conversation now, including Jihyo with YoungJae.

" Where are you? " Tzuyu asked, he assumed the guy wasn't in danger since he was talking normally with them.

***" I found someone who can help us. It's hard to explain right now so I propose us all to meet somewhere"***

_' That's suspicious'_

" Sure, just tell me the address"

***" You can't"*** They all could hear Jihyo's voice as a far sound at the back of the call.

_' And that's even more suspicious'_

***" Let's meet where you are then"*** YoungJae suggested.

In the end, they agreed to meet somewhere else, probably half way, but as for now, they would spend the night where they were, to prepare for a fresh start later. The call ended, still, it was confusing, they realized YoungJae must be hiding something. They parted ways, Sana and Jeongyeon got back to watching TV together while Mina got back to her room along with Tzuyu. As for him, he was trying to forget how it hurts when someone you trust disappoints you. It happened too much to him.

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally had a break and I'll do my best the next days to update ! :)


	26. Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I explained things right...

 

 

 

Time has come, Mina surely didn't want to remember the last time she did that. It had been a year since she saw herself in that situation and it's playing in her mind as she dialed a certain number on her cellphone. She could never forget that number. It rang about three times before a rushed voice could be heard. 

_***" Hello? "***_ The person at the end of the other line asked. Mina gathered all her courage. 

" Mom? It's me" She said after all. Mina could hear the sigh of the woman.

_***" Are you ok?"***_ Her mother asked with real worry in her voice.

Mina couldn't believe that, after all, that was the same woman that once said she didn't care about her.

" I'm fine"

_***" Are you still with the Minatozaki's?" ***_

Mina eyed Sana. 

" Not exactly. Mom, I called to ask you something"

_***" Ok, anything"*** _

_' Here it goes'_

It pains her to remember the times she and her mother didn't had a place to live.

" Do you remember when we first came to live in here? We stayed at your friend's house, right? "

_***" Yes, my dear"*** _

The things her mother had to do to be able to leave their home country. Although, Mina loved there and she never really liked when her mother dragged her to a ' new life in another place'. It had been years since they live in that place but about a year that her mother left her.

" Can you tell me who it was? I don't remember"

_***" Why this so suddenly Mina?"***_ Her mother raised her tone of voice a bit, because, it had been too long that her daughter didn't call her and yet, it looked like Mina didn't forgive, she left her daughter after all. She knows what she did though, and yeah, not even her could forgive herself sometimes. In the end, Mina stayed with Sana's family, the year she spent there was good but still, the woman is her mother.

" Mom, please, I need to know" Mina hoped to get in the heart of her mother, as it used to be. She could hear the woman sighing again.

_***" His name is Gong Jihoon and I know him because of your father actually"***_ She almost chocked with those words.

_' My father, of course'_

Mina's eyes became teary, her father, she missed him.

" Can you tell me more about this Gong Jihoon? "

**_*" Why?" *_ **

" I need to know, it's really important to me right now"

After a brief moment.

_***" Fine then"*** _

_***"Your father knew him because one time they were friends. That's all I know about it. And... The day we had to leave, your father said someone owed one to him and that was it. Once we arrived there, I was sent to the place and I met him the same moment you did"*** _

The woman still remembers vividly when her husband gave that last hope to then before his last breath.

" O-ok"

_***" He is dangerous Mina. I'm sure. Your father wasn't a bad person but he surely knew his demons. Gong Jihoon was one of the cruelest person I have ever met. We just stayed with him for a while because I had no choice that time"*** _

" Hm. Do you know where I can find him or more about him?"

**_*" He used to work a lot for the community as far I know, doing the dirty job I mean. But why are you asking? Stay away from him ok? No matter what"*_ **

" Thanks Mom" Mina was about to hang up.

_***" Mina wait"*** _

She did.

_***" What's happening? You're not doing anything dangerous are you?"*** _

" No Mom, don't worry" She lied. 

_***" Myoui Mina, don't you dare to lie to me"***_ Her mother said with authority. Mina honestly wanted to cry, the woman goes away and then all of a sudden wants to be a mother again.

" I'm going to be ok mom. I'll talk to you later, bye"

The phone call buzzed when it ended, she doesn't know the next time she will hear that voice again. 

Mina gave a heavy step backwards, far away she saw the others waiting her, Tzuyu already inside of the car as Sana and Jeongyeon talked while watching the cars passing on the highway. They were about to leave the hotel, Mina was near the doors of the place, finally reuniting all they could have.

Sana saw her teary eyes when she approached and immediately engulfed her in a hug, even Jeongyeon gave a small pat on her back.

" I'm ok, it's fine" Mina said, cleaning the tears that left her eyes.

Like that, they followed the directions given by YoungJae earlier, joining the countless number of cars on the highway.

  >>>>>>

Jihyo kept checking on her mind all the things she wanted for them to know, since she saw Nayeon so broken after everything, she understood that it was going to be at least complicated to deal with the facts. Nayeon, she had to admit she was doing all of that for her.

Jihyo and the detective were already waiting for the others to arrive, just outside a convenience store near the end of a road, seeing people passing by not worrying with anything rather than their lives.

" They're here" YoungJae almost whispered seeing a distinct group walking in their direction. The group looked a bit distressed, both of the guys were wearing backpacks with the things they found out being needed, they looked like in a mission. Tzuyu was just ahead, they stepped closer. Jeongyeon's eyes twitched when he saw Jihyo.

" Hi" Tzuyu announced.

" Hi, this is Park Jihyo" YoungJae said, the girl smiled and waved briefly. Jeongyeon was behind Tzuyu and glared her.

" What is she doing here?" Jeongyeon said, they all looked at him. He didn't want to be rude but, he was kind of upset.

" Wow" YoungJae breath out.

" I'm here to help "

" Do you know each other?" Sana asked clearly confused.

" She's friends with Nayeon" Jeongyeon said and crossed his arms. Ok, maybe he was a bit traumatized. 

They all now glared Jihyo. She gave an apologetic smile.

" But she's here to help, I swear" YoungJae said.

A brief moment of silence passed.

" Let's go talk somewhere else" YoungJae suggested, people were starting to look at them.

He had seen a park near there and so they all moved to the place. They walked a bit before finding a bench that they all could sit.

They could hear birds chirping in a nearby tree, dogs barking in the distance and kids playing in a playground behind them.

Jihyo then explained the same things she said to YoungJae, about how she got into this, about the magical complications and about her theory behind why the want Jeongyeon and Sana. They didn't ask questions at first, but Jihyo said a lot.

She sighed.

" And there's this" YoungJae took of his pocket the magical artifact JaeBum fought him for. 

"It has magic…How did you got this?" Mina asked. 

" At first, I was looking into some proprieties of BamBam and Yugyeom that we have most access to information, so I discovered about this curious little thing. There wasn't much interesting stuff about them, including JaeBum, but I was able to connect the three to a very intriguing robbery not too long ago, and this was the object stolen. Ok, just another felony but I just... Felt something about this one, it was so unusual for them to do such procedures like they did for this thing" YoungJae said opening the box and letting the gaze the object inside of it.

" It's a magical artifact mostly used to restore lost power or balance magical forces but it was actually made to extract power" Jihyo completed, Mina nodded actually recognizing it.

" Of course, they have something like this" Jeongyeon whispered.

" Right, they're really rare. If I'm right this is of those that were banned right? They're adaptions of other more powerful ones" She completed. Sana slightly remembered learning about that.

" Yes, they can't perform as well as a regular one and it has side effects, like extremely bad ones" Jihyo said.

" And what do you mean by that? " Jeongyeon curiously asked.

" I know that in fact, the person that uses such magic can actually die because of it" Jihyo said. Jeongyeon looked at the ground and breathed heavily, giving a thought to it.

" And you?" Tzuyu asked eyeing YoungJae.

" Actually, at first, I didn't find this one anywhere at the black market or really anywhere but, one night I realized that it couldn't just vanish so they kept to themselves. That's how I knew they stole because they need it not because they wanted to sell it I like I assumed firstly. But yet, I didn't know why they wanted it. Anyways, in the end I decided to track everything that entered or left JaeBum's house, I have a friend that can do it, so, one day he called me saying that they moved a bunch of things to a storage unit, I got there and discovered that some old dude took the stuff from there, so I discovered his name and tracked him to a little shop. Once I got there, it was in fact the easiest part, I said that I worked to the Im family and he just gave me this box. I exited the shop and that was when I found JaeBum. Jihyo told me later that JaeBum's mother was trying to get rid of this, I guess that was an attempt to lose the tracks" YoungJae tried to answer. In the end, it was just because he was curious.

" You met JB? " Sana immediately asked.

" Yes, I have no idea how he found me, I guess he tracked me while I was tracking this. I don't know how he knew I was looking for this thing but I assume that he was also looking for it so I just crossed his way in some point. We had a fight and Jihyo saved me" He said to all of their surprise.

Jihyo hummed.

" I was tracking JaeBum, that's why I was there and I recognized you" She said.

Jeongyeon was still uncertain about her, after all, he couldn't afford to trust random people.

He gazed Sana.

_' I have to do this for her, for us. We can't let our guard down'_

Jeongyeon crossed his arms.

" So, you knew JaeBum was after YoungJae and didn't thought of warning him? " Jeongyeon asked squinting his eyes. Sana frowned, Tzuyu nodded slowly with the question.

" No, I knew that JaeBum was after the artifact" Jihyo explained.

" How and why? "

" Why it's because he's actually thinking about using it to beat Sana and how it's because Nayeon told me everything about it. They want it as a replacement since the right thing they need to take her powers is nowhere around and they used all their resources to find and didn't. Nayeon said that this is actually one of the reasons that JaeBum left his mother, she didn't want to use this one and risk everything, she wanted the real thing but JaeBum said he had a plan, they argued and I guess that's it"

Jeongyeon was following the idea and nodded slowly, thinking hard.

" And what do they need after all? I mean, his mother, the leader" Jeongyeon asked. Jihyo had already explained to them the separation between JaeBum and his mother and how she was the leader of an operation while her son assumed other ideas of his own. 

" For start, what they need to do it's an adaptation of an anciently banned extraction procedure, and they need the same resources that the community used before it was banned, it's some sort of extraction core? I don't know exactly since I only found the description"

_' Of course'_

A sudden memory perked Mina's memory.

" I know what you're talking about. I read that they destroyed all they used to do that, and that some people tried to replicate it after everything and that's how the adaptations started to become a thing, and still they are really rare to have because people that did it were banned and incarcerated"

" You're right but, you know that there's always an idiot that actually ruins everything? I found out rumors about existing one of the real artifacts that didn't got destroyed" Jihyo said.

" That's bad" Sana completed.

" Really bad" Jihyo shook her head. Tzuyu hummed, Jeongyeon was looking at the ground with an unreadable expression. 

" It even took me a while to find an accurate description for what it looks like, Nayeon had to translate for me from an incredibly complicated language of your weird community"

" And?" YoungJae asked.

" So, it's a two-part object, chained to protect from being apart, with the color of ashes and complete when it unleashes rays colored of blood, at least is something like t-"

" Oh my God" Mina muttered. 

Jeongyeon quickly snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Jihyo, Tzuyu froze, Sana widened her eyes. 

" Is this?" Jeongyeon said.

" Probably" Mina said.

They looked at Tzuyu, while Jihyo was just confused.

The younger guy gulped down and immediately took off his backpack and placed at the ground, unzipping it and pulling from the outside the chained object they were currently fearing.

" It matches with what you said" He showed it to Jihyo.

" It really does. Where did you find it? " She scanned it with curiosity.

" In my mother's stuff"

" Your non-magic mother had exactly the most wanted item at the moment?"

" No, my dead mother left it in her things and we found it" Jeongyeon coldly said, he assumed that the girl knew about his mother didn't having magic by Nayeon, hell, that girl knew more about his life than himself. Jihyo felt bad for talking like that, but she was just surprised.

" Sorry" She mumbled.

" It's ok"

_' It isn't'_

"What do you know about Gong Jihoon?" Jeongyeon cut directly to the point. Jihyo gulped down.

" I only heard about him. He is part of the council. A very reserved person. Why? Is he into this?" Jihyo said.

" He killed my mother, a long time ago"

She breathed sharply, they fell in silence, just a windy breeze passed by them.

" We should go, it's getting late" Tzuyu suggested, he safely guarded the precious magical artifact in his backpack.

" We should be more careful since they keep finding us. Think about it, JaeBum found me and I was super careful" YoungJae said.

" You're right" Jeongyeon sighed.

The stars were starting to appear.

Since she was more familiar with the place, Jihyo suggested for them to stay somewhere she knew. 

  >>>>>

JaeBum was drumming on the steering wheel as music played loudly at the radio. He was able to use his authority to extract where his target was from one of his mother's servants, well, SeokJin gave him some tips but he wasn't giving him any credit. That was the easiest way, he thought. So, he was happy, or the happiest he could be. 

.

.

.

It became a routine, to not to be attached to any places since she figured that probably she would be leaving soon after. Sana became unusually silent as her and the other two girls were able to find the room they were meant to be. That hotel was much wider and the rooms were more expensive but Jihyo said that the place was the best for them to stay until destinies were defined, she meant, they could stay there more than one night if they had to, their amount of money was enough for such an activity. Their rooms were at the top floor at the hotel.

Sana was the first to drop her body on a bed, Jihyo cracked her back and sighed, while Mina checked if the room was really safe for them to stay.

The scent of the newly and perfectly made bed brought comfort to Sana, sudden memories of the comfort of her house, and her parents, Sana opened her eyes slowly and turned sideways, seeing Mina staring out of a big window they had, Jihyo had just left to shower first. 

" Mina" Sana uttered, the girl turned to her and walked a bit before landing her own body near Sana at her bed. 

" Any problem?" Mina asked, relaxing, seeing her mind go to a sleepy state.

" My heart hurts" It had been a while since she didn't have a proper talk with her best friend, Sana felt like it was time to.

" Why?"

" My parents, my house, our lives, Tzuyu left everything, Jeongyeon lost his father and we both have nowhere to go" Sana whined, frustrated.

" We can find ourselves again. Tzuyu left because he wants to, no one forced him to anything, I mean, he's really kind for helping us. And about your parents and Jeongyeon's father, I guess there's nothing we can do anymore" Mina whispered the last part, sensing that her voice was going to fail.

" He's so sad, and now there's this sister thing and his mother" Sana pouted.

" I mean, he's still trying but" Sana sighed. 

" I know it hurts a lot" She put a hand above her heart, she felt it clenching when thinking about her probably gone parents.

" I guess that's the best for us to start to leave those things behind, focus in what you have now, we can figure out where to go when this end, I mean, when we get rid of so many troubles, they have to leave you alone someday" Mina softly said. 

She got up from the bed and stretched her arms. 

" I'm going to shower after Jihyo since you take the longest showers ever, so if you want to go somewhere go now" Mina said playfully hitting the girl's legs and leaving to lay on her own bed to wait a bit.

Sana stared at the ceiling, unknowingly sighing.

_' Ok, I need to get some sleep'_ Sana thought, turning to her side and closing her eyes slowly.

.

.

.

Later.

It had been a while since he felt calm somewhere. Jeongyeon had just finished showering, he walked around in the room a bit, seeing Tzuyu watching TV while YoungJae was busy on his laptop. 

" We need to eat" Jeongyeon announced loudly, YoungJae immediately closed his laptop and Tzuyu got up to stretch his back signaling an ok.

" Let's call the girls" The latter said already skipping to the hallway, they were one room apart from them. Tzuyu knocked on the door and was greeted by Jihyo, she looked confused. 

" We're going down to eat" Tzuyu said.

Sure, they could ask room service, but Tzuyu said he wanted to look around.

Jihyo nodded and called Mina.

" Sana is still taking a shower, we should wait" The younger girl said.

" You all go, I'll wait for her" Jeongyeon said, they indeed were starving but Jeongyeon had just a bit of appetite, that's why he decided to stay.

Mina turned around and warned Sana that they were going down. Jeongyeon entered the room and kept standing there, gazing outside the window.

After some minutes, Sana got out and saw him. 

" Are the others already there?" She asked. He turned around and nodded.

" Let's go" Sana stood her hand and waited for him, he intertwined their fingers together and walked to the door. He twisted the doorknob, distracted. A slight crack sound startled him and a cold object touched his temple as soon as he stepped out of the room, Sana was a bit behind, Jeongyeon stopped walking when he understood what was going on. A gun was pointed to his head, with a silencer.

" Finally!" JaeBum smirked and pressed the weapon more on Jeongyeon's head. Sana let out a gasp and widened her eyes.

They were standing at the hallway, Jeongyeon let Sana's hand go and looked in anger at JaeBum.

" Move without me saying so and I'll blow your brain off" JaeBum warned. He held Jeongyeon's shoulder and turned him around for him to face Sana. 

" Follow my instructions and he won't be harmed" JaeBum said to Sana, she nodded hesitantly, fear clear in her eyes. But there was something else, Sana was tracing a plan quickly inside her head, trying to figure how to change that bad situation. She glanced the surroundings.

"I know what you're thinking about and you won't be fast enough to do anything before I pull this trigger" JaeBum was indeed with a finger dangerously pulling the trigger. Jeongyeon was silent, he was nervous and didn't see one alternative to get out of that without being shot and possibly dying. Sana looked at him in worry. JaeBum clearly didn't care anymore if Jeongyeon lived or died.

" It's ok" Jeongyeon mouthed.

" Now, you will walk with me, I'll show the way and if I see anything suspicious he will die and don't you dare to say a word" JaeBum completed. Sana nodded in understanding.

" Now move" The bad guy indicated the path to his car, he had entered from an alternative backdoor at that huge place and knew exactly how to get back without being noticed, and besides, he knew how to picklock and pass the security system.

They were outside, darkened by the night, JB didn't took the gun from Jeongyeon's head for a second and opened the car using his powers. 

" Grab this rope and tie his wrists" He commanded Sana. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. She followed the instructions.

JaeBum practically threw Jeongyeon at the seat of the car, still pointing the gun to him, staring at the guy in anger.

" And for you my dear Sana, I have something special" He was still looking at every move Jeongyeon made but reached one of his pockets and pulled handcuffs.

" These ones are specially made for you, I had to kill a whole clan to make these for me. They're supposed to block at least a good part of your powers, smart right? They had to do sacrifices to be able to achieve this. All for you Sana" JaeBum chuckled, gripping the gun even more and smirking to Jeongyeon, while Sana looked disgusted at him and tried her best to not to have a breakdown, she was too scared for Jeongyeon's life to actually try to engage into a fight, it was too dangerous to be exact. If only she wasn't alone. 

_' Mina, please'_ Sana eyed the hotel before taking the handcuffs. The moment she locked one of her wrists, it was like the world had stopped, she felt something hitting hard inside of her, changing.

JaeBum knew what was happening, it was already working, her powers were being slowly blocked. It wouldn't last long however, that wasn't even an alternative, just a desesperate try of JB. 

_' Good '_ He thought. 

" And you" He said at Jeongyeon. 

" Go to sleep" He smirked and stood his hand, a dark aura surrounded him and a faint white glow left his palm. Jeongyeon practically passed out once the light reached his eyes.

Sana sobbed, standing beside the bad guy. He grabbed her other wrist and finally closed the handcuffs, pushing Sana to the other side and making her sit at the passenger sit. He sat at the driver's sit and finally speeded the car away from there.

" It was easier than I thought" He said eyeing Sana.

" Who knew love could make people so weak?" He said chuckling, he was fast to figure out. 

  >>>>>

" They're taking too long" Mina breathed out loud.

" Maybe they're busy" YoungJae said wiggling his eyebrows. Tzuyu almost choked on his food. Mina ignored.

It has been twenty minutes and no sight of the duo, of course, Mina was getting suspicious because they weren't supposed to stay apart for too long.

Jihyo was suspiciously quiet. Until her cellphone hang.

" Excuse me" She excused herself and walked away from the table, they didn't even bother to see where she was going.

Mina sighed and buried her head on her palms.

" I'm seriously thinking about going upstairs to check on them" She said mindfully, her instinct was strong.

"Good luck with that" YoungJae said with his mouth full of food.

Mina rubbed her temples and got up, entering a hallway to follow to upstairs. The problem was, the moment she entered there, she accidentally heard Jihyo's voice, and what scared her was that she heard Sana's name in the conversation. Mina hated to be sneaky, but she had to. She focused, she could see Jihyo talking on the cellphone just around the corner, the other really didn't expect for Mina to go there and was talking normally. She could hear everything when focusing, the perks of using magic. 

" Yes, they have it, I'm sure" Jihyo said with a nervous voice.

" I did everything you told me to, now let her go, please" Jihyo was hardly securing her tears.

Mina wasn't easily angered, but her preoccupation made her stressed. Right there she was mad. She couldn't hear the voice at the other end though.

" You know where they are, now leave us alone" Jihyo said with a cracking voice and turned the call off with her shaking hands.

The moment Jihyo took a step forward, she met Mina's glistening eyes, she was serious, Jihyo gasped, her breathing hitched, the other immediately grabbed the collar of her shirt and pushed her to the wall.

Mina's eyes became dark, she focused everything on her powers.

" Who were you talking to? Tell me" Mina asked with authority.

But it didn't work, Jihyo became silent. Her grip firm on the girl's shirt, Mina punched the wall beside her head, the girl didn't flinch, she knew what she had done and she was there to defend herself.

People that were passing by started to look at the commotion. They snapped their head in the direction of the sound and even Tzuyu and YoungJae became curious.

" You're going tell me right now who you are working for or the next one will be on your face" Mina was ready to punch her, Jihyo closed her eyes, ready for the pain, she knew what she did was wrong but she had to protect the one she loves the most.

" What are you doing?" Mina heard Tzuyu saying behind her and YoungJae held her fist.

" She betrayed us" Mina said with a sad voice.

YoungJae gulped down.

" Is that truth?" He asked. Jihyo nodded reluctantly.

" But you saved my life" He said not believing it.

" I- I'm sorry, I can explain" She stuttered, the words were stuck in her throat. Mina didn't lose the grip at her, Tzuyu put a hand above hers trying to calm her down.

" Let's go upstairs and talk with the others, whatever they're doing, to decide what we're going to do with her" He said landing a soft gaze at her. Mina looked annoyedly at him.

" It doesn't matter, it's too late now, they're coming" Jihyo said surely.

" Still, let's get ready then" Tzuyu said, nodding at Mina, she finally released Jihyo and the girl gasped in relief before they moved upstairs trying not to call more attention.

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha


	27. Fear

 

 

 

 

Worry clouded her mind, she had made her way through as fast as possible, Mina knocked at the door for about three times and was starting to lose her enormous patience. JaeBum had even been smart enough to lock the rooms before leaving.

While Mina tried her best, Tzuyu had just left to the other room to see if the others were there, but, as expected, after a minute, he got back with a horrified look.

" You need to see this" He warned. They followed in suspicious, Mina holding Jihyo by the arm and YoungJae walking a bit behind them.

Inside the room they could see all of their belongings scattered around the floor, along with their backpacks already empty.

" How? It can't be" Jihyo was the first to gasp. They all knew what it meant. 

Mina exhaled deeply before letting Jihyo go and quickly going back to the other room. She used some complicated skills of her own to picklock and so to open the door just to encounter what she feared the most, an empty room.

Mina was about to cry when Jihyo appeared at the doorstep. She angrily looked at her and that time she successfully punched the girl. Jihyo stepped back with the force of the punch and held her cheek in pain.

" It wasn't me" Jihyo was able to blur out. When Mina was about to give her another punch, Tzuyu got in front of her and stopped her hand, he felt the pain of the strong punch on his palm and sighed.

" Calm down Mina, I need you to breath and think straight" Tzuyu wasn't calm, on the contrary, he was just as mad as her, but Mina had to be controlled or the fuss would be bigger.

" Let's hear what she has to say, after all she's our best clue" He said with reason, eyeing Jihyo, that was cleaning the blood at the corner of her lips, right then, YoungJae stepped at her side and pulled his gun to her head.

" And you better not lie again" He said serious.

Mina agreed and pushed the girl inside of the room, finding the key and locking the door in the process. Jihyo sat at a couch there, Tzuyu started walking back and forth while Mina and YoungJae stood in front of Jihyo, the detective still pointing his gun at the traitor.

" I told you the truth about everything, but that's not all I know" Jihyo started saying.

" Where is Sana?" Mina asked coldly.

" I swear I don't know, they're not even here yet, Sana and Jeongyeon were supposed to be here"

" You are lying!" Mina muttered out in anger.

" Who are them?" Tzuyu asked thinking, not even looking at Jihyo.

" I can't tell you or..."

" Are you kidding me? You better tell or your life ends here" Tzuyu raised his voice.

Jihyo didn't finch, just closed her eyes.

" Are you working with JaeBum for all this time?" YoungJae asked, but that didn't make any sense. Jihyo shook her head and gazed the floor.

" This is useless, how do we know that she isn't lying again?" Mina said.

" Did you try to use your powers?" Tzuyu asked.

" It was the first thing I did, and it didn't work" Mina sat down, rubbing her temples. Tzuyu approached and also stood in front of Jihyo.

" Did you just join us to know where we were?" He asked.

" Yes but..." Jihyo looked up.

" I saved the detective because I wanted to, at that hour I wasn't planning to betray you all. But things changed"

Tzuyu frowned.

" What did they take from you?" He asked, it looked like he pushed the right button, Jihyo looked away.

" Nayeon..." She mumbled. Even though she wasn't supposed to tell that, she had no way out.

" Who took her? I thought she was safe " YoungJae said, putting his gun down.

" I also thought so but, the day I saved you, they called me and said they had her... I talked with her briefly. You have to understand that I wouldn't do this if she was safe and-"

" That's enough" Tzuyu stopped her.

" Mina, do you know why your magic isn't working?"

" I have no idea" Mina was with her head buried on her palms to prevent her tears from stream down.

" What if they did something with Sana? The last time this happened it was when she was unconscious" Mina's eyes were blurry, her voice cracked.

" No, it has only twenty-five minutes they're missing, I don't think whoever got them had time to do anything" Tzuyu said.

" Right now, I need you to think with us and we can find them again" Tzuyu said but he bit his lip, he was saying those words, but according with what he knows, whoever took Sana and Jeongyeon already had all they needed, it was only a matter of time by then. He was right though, JaeBum was trying to go as far as possible to finish everything. Or start again like he thinks.

Mina was right in some twisted way, the moment Sana's powers were slowed down, everyone's powers were weaker, it only happened that Mina's mind was already unstable so she was completely powerless for the moment.

Suddenly Jihyo's phone buzzed, YoungJae immediately pulled his gun again and pointed at her.

" Answer, and don't tell anything suspicious" He said, the gun touched her forehead.

 _ ***" I don't see them, you said they were downstairs" ***_ A male voice could be heard at the other line.

" We're upstairs, you know the rooms" Jihyo said serious.

_***" Hm. We're coming"*** _

" Wait. What did you do with her?"

 _ ***" Nayeon is here and she's fine I guess, I will leave her at the parking lot, but only after I get what I came from"***_ Like that, the call ended.

Jihyo's eyes widened, since Sana and Jeongyeon weren't there, she realized that everything she did was in vain.

" It's better if we leave now" Tzuyu said.

" Please, you have to help me!" Jihyo exclaimed lowering her head at them.

" Why would I do that?" Mina asked.

" Because they'll kill her" Jihyo pleaded. Tzuyu clenched his fist.

" Look, everything I told you it's the truth beside of this and I really saved your life at that time"

Sometimes the truth is all person has to offer. They looked at each other.

" Fine!" Tzuyu said, Mina shook her head.

" You can come with us but after we get her I don't want to see your face ever again, and I think I can say this in behalf of the others" He said, Jihyo stood up and thanked them.

They left the room, it was still quiet at the hallways, the hotel was big but they had luck that the others didn't find them yet.

Until they got at the lobby.

A group of bodyguards was already at the entrance just in case, but they didn't even think about going through there, in fact they wanted to go to the backdoor of the place in the area of employees only, Mina could do that easily if she had her powers but, that wasn't the case.

They looked at each other and nodded, expecting to do everything according to their plan. Mina lead the way and they did their best to remain unnoticed but yet, when Mina was about to open the door of the employee's area, another employee opened from the inside and unfortunately, it was a bodyguard that was scanning the area, he quickly pulled a gun at them since he recognized that that was the group they were looking for.

Tzuyu, Mina and Jihyo looked at each other for a second.

" Boss, I found them, they're near the backdoor" He alarmed his boss with a communication device.

" Good, let's all go to the parking lot, it's the only place empty" Their boss said at the other end.

Mina didn't fight back, Tzuyu seemed to follow her lead and Jihyo did nothing but obey. More guards arrived and it seemed that there were all of the bad guys there.

That group was practically dragged to the underground parking lot, Jihyo couldn't hold her tears anymore when she saw Nayeon's body laid on the floor, lifeless.

" No" She sobbed covering her mouth. They all could see a set of cars all looking the same and a black van, surrounded by bodyguards but one person contrasted in all of them and they assumed that the guy was the boss.

" You promised to keep her safe" Jihyo cried more while pointing angrily at the guy.

" But I didn't say she would be harmless" The boss said without making an expression. He stepped forward, his presence was crushing their hopes and when Tzuyu and Mina looked better at him, they just knew it.

" You're Gong Jihoon" Tzuyu angrily said, clenching his fist.

" Yes. Where are the others? I thought there were six of them? " The boss asked, not minding the powerful glares at him.

No dared to say a word. The guy shook his head and crouched by Nayeon's side, pulling her head up.

" Tell me now, or else" He said, Jihyo could see Nayeon's eyes opening a little bit, there was still hope.

" They're gone, you came too late" Jihyo said quickly.

" What do mean too late? Did they escape? Did they knew we were coming?"

" No! Someone took them before you, with everything" She answered.

The guy pushed Nayeon's head back to the floor and got up, cleaning his hands and glaring at his bodyguards. Jihyo was able to move and embrace Nayeon's body at her own, lifting her up with all her strength she had to hold the older on her arms.

Right at that moment, their plan started, Jihyo had Nayeon safely and that was all they needed for YoungJae to come in action. In fact, the bodyguards only found Tzuyu, Mina and Jihyo at the area because they thought that it would be better to leave YoungJae behind as their escape route, so the plan was to get caught, Mina said she wanted to see the face of the person after them that did so many bad things. Until the moment, it was working, YoungJae passed the front door without trouble since the guards were gone and he had one of their backpacks full of resources, ready to save the others.

The boss pulled a cellphone from his pocket, surprising them since they thought he was already done.

He greeted the other person patiently.

" It seems like we were too late" Jihoon said to the person.

Then he kept listening as the other side told him the procedures. He clenched his teeth meanwhile, having to hear that useless commands were making him anger and after all, he was always so close and yet so far to get Sana.

Yes, he wanted Sana, that was the reason he was there. That was the reason to bear with everything.

" I think your stupid son actually did something"

When Jihoon said that, Mina comprehended, he was talking with none other than the head of the operation, JaeBum's mother.

_' They're working together'_

The plan was still in action, at the background YoungJae was still unnoticed by the bad guys. He had to give a sign to Mina and the girl would do her part.

He knew he would look suspicious if he approached too much that's why the plan had to work from the distance. YoungJae didn't believe that it would actually work but he had to try. Tzuyu was quickly eyeing all corners of the place, waiting.

' _This better work'_ YoungJae thought, unsuspiciously leaning on a random car around the place, he looked at them rapidly and crouched when he wasn't noticed, unzipping the backpack and taking what he need.

 _' Luck is on our side right now '_ He thought since he was able to find a car that was distant from others and at the same time close enough to the sight in front of him. Taking all the things he needed to break into the car.

Meanwhile, in the distance.

" Alright, alright" The boss said and turned the call off.

"Put them in the van and get rid of the bodies" He added and walked away as a driver opened the door for him to enter in one of the cars.

" And don't kill them here, do it in somewhere more private" One of the bodyguards nodded and was about to close the door of the car.

YoungJae sighed in relief.

 _' So, plan A in action'_ YoungJae was glad since plan B would be more complicated.

He put everything inside of the backpack again and waited for the cars to be gone, then he approached his own car and speed up to follow the said van, passing in his mind the whole conversation he had with Mina and Tzuyu earlier.

In short, they had three plans before going downstairs. Plan A was based at the assumption of the bad guys wanting to kill them, of course, Mina quickly assumed they would be careful and take them somewhere to execute the evil act, the person that stayed behind would follow to whatever the place was and use all strength to fight, they thought that a minor number of guards would be used to do that so it would be easier to fight back.

Plan B was if the bad guys tried to harm them right there, it started as the plan A but the person who stayed at the hotel had to call the enemies attention in some way and then they would try to take them down with a fight, that was extremely risky but Mina said that it was difficult to happen. YoungJae even thought about blowing up a car to do that, extreme situations require extreme means he thought. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary.

Plan C was to YoungJae to run away and try to find Sana and Jeongyeon alone. He would never choose Plan C, he couldn't leave the others to possibly die.

And that was it, and it was all happening like Mina predicted.

Three bad guys were in the vehicle, two at the front seats and one pointing a gun at them, Nayeon was barely breathing laid on Jihyo's lap while Mina and Tzuyu were anxiously hoping to their plan to work, since they didn't have any weapons to not to raise suspicious.

For about half an hour, YoungJae followed them. The bad guys stopped at an empty building place. YoungJae parked far away on an area he wouldn't be spotted.

" Move" The bad guy said pushing his gun more near Mina's head.

They lined up the three of them, Nayeon remained on the van since she was passed out.

Just one guard was with them, other one stayed at the driver sit and the last one was leaned at the door of the car. Mina, Tzuyu and Jihyo were on their knees and with their hands behind their heads.

 _' Where's YoungJae? '_ Tzuyu was tense, he was with his back turned to the bad guys, but he could hear the click of the gun. A drop of sweat slid his forehead and his heart thumped louder.

 _' What if he didn't follow us? '_ He thought already fazed with the thought of his life ending like that.

YoungJae hid behind a wall, unlocking his gun, he clearly saw the enemies.

Mina was the first to feel the barrel of a gun touching her head. Tzuyu looked at her with the corner of his eyes before the bad guy put a finger on the trigger.

That was it, Tzuyu closed his eyes when he heard a gunshot, he felt a grip on his heart and trembled. He was scared and couldn't open his eyes again, just the thought of Mina being dead by his side was terrifying.

Again, another gunshot. It echoed inside his ears. But Tzuyu felt nothing, so he bravely opened his eyes and slowly turned to his side, just to see Mina well alive, he sighed in relief but there was a dead body near her, blood splashes on the floor and even her clothes got stained.

The bad guy that was at the driver's sit had no idea that the other two were already dead, it was easy for YoungJae to surprise and finally end him.

Three dead bodies, all of the bad guys, the others were safe, YoungJae really did a professional job, times of despair he thought.

" Is everyone ok?" His voice echoed at the empty place.

" I guess" Mina said after she help Tzuyu to stand up, the guy was still shaking a bit. Jihyo had already entered the van again, to see if they did something with Nayeon.

Like that, they reunited and followed to YoungJae's car to get out of that mess.

" Where to?" He asked.

Tzuyu eyed Jihyo.

" Let's leave this two somewhere and find Sana and Jeongyeon" He said.

YoungJae turned the car on and speeded out of there.

  >>>>>

After half hour of driving, JaeBum was silent, for more unbelievable that it sounds, he was getting nervous, after all, he waited for that moment for a long time. He could already see the moonlight parting its way on the sky near the warehouse he was meant to go, the surroundings were so dark, full of big trees as the moon only shone at one side of the road, being blocked by the big warehouse. What he didn't expect was to find another car already there. He panicked a bit, gulping down with the thought of anyone interfering with his historical moment.

He turned his head to Sana, the girl was looking down to her lap and dozing off, one of the consequences of having one part of her partially blocked.

" Don't get out of the car " He said, Sana looked at him with lifeless eyes.

JaeBum shook his head and pulled his gun, pointing to the sleeping Jeongyeon at the backseat.

" If I come back and see you or him even slightly moved I won't hesitate in shot his brain out of his head" JaeBum threatened, his eyes even glistened with the words. Sana wanted to be stronger, she looked at her lover slowly, she was exhausted.

JaeBum knew a thing she didn't about his attempt of blocking her, the handcuffs wouldn't last long when Sana started to zoom out, he knew by her looks that her powers were doing everything to come back and that it was making her body exhausted, after all, it was always like this, Sana had always been too weak to contain her own strength. By then, the time of use of the handcuffs was being cut short by the second.

 _' I need to do this quickly_ ' Although he knew it wasn't that simple.

For now, he had to leave them behind to see who was the person that came there before him. He proceeded to walk with his gun up until the door of the place. It seemed quiet, he unlocked the door and pushed it lightly.

" Who's there?" JaeBum screamed at the dark place.

" Calm down, it's me" For his surprise, out of nowhere SeokJin stepped from the shadows with a smile. JB didn't put his gun down though, for the older it wasn't that difficulty to find out that JB would go to the farthest place he knew.

" Does she know you're here?" The younger asked clearly referring to his mother.

" As for now, no"

" And you think she won't notice if you disappear?"

" I guess not, she would think I'm taking care of you"

JaeBum clenched his teeth, although it wasn't entirely SeokJin's fault, the madness was consuming his mind.

" You fool, that's the problem! Right now, she must already know that I have them!" JaeBum said in anger.

" Fuck! " He screamed.

" I'm sorry, I didn't know" SeokJin retorted.

" Damn it Jin, you have to help me with this right now because we're running out of time you stupid" JaeBum hesitantly put his gun down and clenched his teeth in anger.

" Don't you ever think that I forgive you for this but, I want to ask you just one thing. Does this mean you're choosing to help me instead of her?"

SeokJin finally stepped closer and passed an arm around Jaebum's neck.

" That's right, I'm here to save you" The older simply said with a smile on his face.

" Good, so help me with the incredible duo. They're in the car" JaeBum sarcastically said before start moving back to the car.

Meanwhile, Sana breathed sharply, trying to maintain her focus on her wrists and break the chains, using all her brain power to take her and Jeongyeon at least out of the car.

 _' It doesn't work, I'm useless'_ She thought, hitting her head back at the car seat. It was too late anyways, JaeBum was already getting back and with backup.

" Were you planning to drag them by yourself?" SeokJin screamed at the distance. The voices were coming each second closer, until she could see the two guys. JaeBum tsked.

" Hi Sana, I don't know if you remember me, I'm Kim SeokJin" He was incredibly charismatic even in that situation. Sana looked at him, the glow of her brown eyes almost fainting. She simply looked elsewhere then, beyond SeokJin, to where the moon was shining so close of them, she looking upset at the reflection of the silver rays at the windows of the warehouse.

" What did you do with her?" SeokJin asked, clearly noticing that she wasn't her normal self. JaeBum opened her door.

" See, the handcuffs, I guess we only have about some minutes until it stops working, it's blocking most part of her powers, and for now it isn't possible to use magic"

SeokJin let an oh and helped Sana to get out of the car.

" Hold on, it's almost over" He whispered to her, not even JaeBum heard that. Sana didn't comprehend if he was talking about her death.

JaeBum didn't have everything set up at the place, to say the least, he was improvising.

" Do you really need the both of them? " SeokJin asked seeing the guy troubled with Jeongyeon's body.

" Yes, I need his body, to be able to pass her powers without losing my mind or anything else" JaeBum explained.

" Ok, I kind of know what you're talking about"

JaeBum dragged Jeongyeon's body with difficulty while SeokJin escorted Sana in front of him. The place they stopped was dark and humid, it had a distinct drawing on the floor, a chair in the middle of it.

" You sit in here" SeokJin said, helping Sana to sit on the chair.

The girl looked in anger at them, seeing JaeBum pass by her with Jeongyeon's body.

 _' I'm sorry '_ She thought, closing her eyes.

...

Meanwhile, at the base of the operation, JaeBum's mother prepared to enter at her car, a cellphone pressed to her ear.

" You'll get there faster than me, don't let me down or else I'll have you head as exhibit on my living room" She yelled at the phone call.

 _ ***" How are you so sure he's there?"***_ Jihoon asked.

" SeokJin, I have a mark on him and he's there, I'm sure he's with my son, that's how weak he is" The woman said, and that's the truth, for more that Jin tried to escape, she'll find him as long as both are alive, it was like SeokJin's soul belong to her.

 _ ***" Alright, I'm getting there in about ten minutes according with my driver"***_ He said and ended the call. His car was really fast. 

The woman entered her car expecting to go to the same place.

...

" Here's good for me. Thank you" Jihyo said, making YoungJae stop the car.

" Wake her up first" Mina said. Again, they had a plan.

Jihyo nodded, Nayeon was laid at her shoulder.

" Nayeon, wake up, we need your help" She softly taped the girl's cheek until her eyes started to open slowly.

" Where am I?" Nayeon's eyes widen when she saw Mina and YoungJae at the front sit along with Tzuyu sat by her side, eyeing her with an expressionless gaze.

She immediately put her hand up and tried to protect herself with magic but it obviously didn't work.

" Calm down" Jihyo quickly said.

" What's happening?" The older asked again, eyes showing fear.

" You need to tell them where JaeBum is planning to take Sana when he gets her" Jihyo explained.

" Why would I do that?"

" They saved your life"

" Really?"

Mina glared her.

" Really, now hurry up" She added.

" Wait, did he get her?"

" I suppose" Jihyo responded.

Since that they figured out by Jihoon that their leader was also looking for Sana, the only lead left was JaeBum.

" And Jeongyeon?" Nayeon asked gulping down.

" He disappeared with Sana"

" No" Nayeon brought her hands to her head and bit her lip, eyes filling with tears.

" You need to tell us where he is" YoungJae said.

" I-I don't know" The girl said.

" You don't know?" Tzuyu raised his voice.

" I-I mean, he could be anywhere" She added.

" Think!"

" Sorry, but..."

" Where would he leave her? Think about a place that he could run away after" Mina said.

" He would probably go to a place far from people, since it will be a lot of screaming" Nayeon said for their pain.

" And?" Tzuyu pressured her.

" I guess he has some places..."

" Wait" YoungJae quickly pulled his laptop and shakily opened all he knew about the proprieties of JaeBum and his family, he searched fast and found about five places far away from the others. He could only take one place from the list, since it was the place that Nayeon kept Jeongyeon earlier and assumed that the enemies wouldn't use it again. He then passed the laptop to the backseat.

"Any of these?" He asked. Nayeon looked widely to the addresses in front of her, ones even had pictures, she was familiar with all of them.

" These two"

That's how they narrowed down the search.

" Should we split? Two go to one and one go to the other?" YoungJae suggested.

" No, our power will be too low to beat him, besides we don't even know if he's alone, he might have an army with him" Mina objectively pushed the idea away.

" I can help!" Nayeon said. They glared her.

" No" Jihyo put her hands in Nayeon' s shoulder and make she look at her.

" You promised to step away from this, you promised me to let him go if I helped them" She had a desperate look.

" But he's in danger"

" He's always in danger and we can do nothing about it, we have to keep you safe first, you're injured and I need to take you home" Jihyo completed with glistening eyes.

" But-"

" No buts, we don't need your help and we don't want to see your face ever again" Tzuyu said, opening the door of the car and getting out.

" Now leave, the both of you" He said with authority. Nayeon would be more trouble than help.

Jihyo nodded, Nayeon was still mumbling complaints but they exited the car. Jihyo thanked them as YoungJae sprinted the car out of there.

" Pick one" He said, passing the laptop to Mina. YoungJae had an idea earlier, to actually give a gun to Tzuyu, so they were going to meet a friend of the detective on the way to be able to get at least two guns.

" Think about a place he would escape better" Tzuyu said from the backseat.

Mina opened the two files and examined them.

" This one, because of the trees, they would hide everything better" She reluctantly choose the first file, it even had a picture of the place. YoungJae read the address.

" That's it, I know where it is, we're about half an hour from there"

...

SeokJin was walking side to side while JaeBum was busy tying Sana to the chair.

" How much time until our magic gets back?" The older guy asked since they needed magic to start.

" I don't know, it should already be" JaeBum said, looking at the handcuffs at Sana's wrists.

" Can't you take them off?"

" No, it's meant to not be taken off"

" And you didn't think this through"

" No, they said it would break when the effect is over"

Time was passing so fast. About one minute later, SeokJin noticed that Sana was it her eyes closed for a while. JaeBum was by his side, toying with the chain of the so waited artifact, he noticed that when the pieces were together it glows a faint tone of red. Of course, he didn't know why.

" What if she passed out?" He mumbled.

" Even if she is seeping, her powers aren't"

" Now what?"

" Now we wait"

" Shouldn't we try to wake her up?"

JaeBum was starting to get annoyed.

" Do whatever you want"

SeokJin entered the area Sana was placed, the middle of the weird magic drawing on the floor, made with black paint. He glanced Jeongyeon's body that was at the end of a huge red line that crossed the black drawing, placed proposedly by JB.

He was in front of Sana again.

" Wake up" He said lightly taping her head. But Sana didn't move. He put his head closer to her, examining meticulously.

" JB! I don't think she's breathing"

The guy immediately approached and pushed Jin out of the way to check her pulse. He barely found one.

" She's breathing but weakly"

_' This isn't supposed to happen'_

He thought rubbing his temple.

Jeongyeon's heart tugged in that moment, it was already fast given the situation but now he just wanted to get up and beat the two guys. It had been about two minutes that he was awake, looked like JB didn't do a good job at his sleeping spell.

Jeongyeon thought it was better to keep silent, since he still didn't have an opportunity of grabbing the gun JaeBum keeps on his waist.

He could only see Sana's back from where he was, her ankles and body tied to a chair.

Right then, a big explosion could be heard at the outside of the place, Jeongyeon almost moved.

JaeBum and SeokJin stared each other, the younger pulling his gun.

" I think they found us" He said.

Surprisingly, SeokJin also pulled a gun he kept for emergencies, he didn't like to use it though. Both eyed the couple that was supposedly passed out.

" Let's go over there quickly and come back quickly" JaeBum said, Jin nodded following the other to the door.

When Jeongyeon heard the noise of the door being closed, he looked around to make sure the others were gone. He got up in a hurry and ran to Sana, trying his best to untied her from the chair, but he had nothing sharp enough to cut the ropes.

" Sana" He whispered to her, cupping her cheeks and lifting her head up.

" Please wake up, I need you right now" He whispered in a rush.

" Please" He put his forehead on hers and closed his eyes, finally letting his tears stream down.

 _' Not again_ ' He thought, grabbing the handcuffs and looking for a way to take them off, Jeongyeon felt useless. He could hear the gunshots from afar.

After an incredible effort of some seconds, he was able to untie the rope around her body and ankles, his nails were bleeding from the strength and his hands were sore and burning. But he knew, even with that, he wouldn't be able to drag her from there.

The gunshots stopped, he hugged her tightly.

" I'm sorry, I can't save you" His tears failing again on her lifeless body on the chair, the silence buzzed, he thought it was over, he cleaned his tears and cupped her cheeks.

" Forgive me" He gave a peck on her lips and stood up, eyes red as he waited for the door to open, he was going to fight, most probably die trying but it didn't matter, nothing mattered anymore besides doing his best to keep her alive.

A crack could be heard, as sharp metal parted in two.

Sana started panting when she regained her breath.

" Jeongyeon" She called, tears were also falling from her eyes. A miracle he thought , she was wide awake. 

_' Thank God'_

Jeongyeon sighed in relief, he was sure that they would die there just a second ago. But it seemed to be too late, footsteps could be heard approaching. He quickly helped her up and hugged her again. The broken handcuffs fell on the floor. 

" I thought I would lose you, are you ok?" He asked eyeing her up and down.

" My head hurts but besides that I'm fine" She said rubbing her head.

" We need to leave right now"

" Where are we?"

" Doesn't matter" Jeongyeon dragged the chair all the way through the huge place and tried to lock the door, then he looked around the place, there was nowhere to run. All he could see was really far windows beside of the darkness.

" Can you use your magic right now? To take us out of here?"

" Yes"

Sana then put her hand up and pointed to a wall. A sound could be already heard in the other side of the door, it was now or never.

" Blow this up!" A voice from the other side of the door screamed trying to open it.

Sana did her best to focus and the palm of her hand started to glow an incredibly strong shade of greenish blue, before a ray of the same light seemed to bend with the wall in front of her, making it blow up, pieces of the wall busting to outside, even her was surprised with the powerful explosion.

Jeongyeon grabbed her hand.

" That's perfect, can you run?" He asked already walking away to their alternative exit.

" I think so" Sana said, she didn't fell dizzy at all, it was surprising after such a release of magic.

" Go" Jeongyeon let her pass first at the hole full of debris in the wall. Then, the enemies were able to open the door.

Jeongyeon was fast to run after Sana, hearing the gunshots echoing as he exited the place, he was so close to be shot.

The woods were the first thing Sana saw and she ran the fastest she could to there, just looking back once to see if Jeongyeon was following her and he was.

She stopped her tracks when the only thing she could see was forest surrounding them.

" Why did you stop?" Jeongyeon was fast too caught up with her.

" You're bleeding" She said breathlessly. Indeed, it looked like he scratched his shoulder running away from the gunshots, even a piece of his shirt was missing near the cut. He didn't mind it though.

" We have to run the furthest possible from that place and find a vehicle to take us out of here" He said grabbing her hand and starting running again. Sana nodded, doing her best to run away with him.

*

 


	28. Direction

 

 

 

Yoo Jeongyeon was determinate. Even with chaos scratching his thoughts, he couldn't be more certain of one thing in his life. Taking them out of there, no matter what.

He let heavy puffs of breath accompanied with quick inhales of air, sweat glistening in that dark place, the wind striking him made him shiver under the moonlight.

" I'm so tired" Sana put a hand on her chest, taking a breath after whining. She knew she couldn't stop but she had to, just because she wasn't used with such a rush. Jeongyeon was taken a back, he feared Sana wouldn't handle it much longer.

Countless minutes passed.

They were in the middle of a set of trees, trying to hide as the wind brought the sounds of the other people looking for them, even if it was distant, it echoed until where they were and freaked them out. Just the two alone wouldn't be enough against how many bad guys had after them, and by the number of shots Jeongyeon had heard earlier, that meant a lot.

He stopped with her, putting both hands above his knees and took a deep breath.

" We have to find something... To take us out of here" He said between breaths.

" I can't run anymore. Just go without me" Sana said not thinking straight.

" No "

Jeongyeon gulped down and wiped the sweat of his forehead, getting closer to her and holding her hand.

" I want you to get on my back" He stated his idea.

" Are you sure?"

" I am. The road isn't really far from here I guess, since I could hear a car a few minutes ago, so we're close" Jeongyeon said turning his back at her and crouching a bit.

" It's ok, now go on" He added.

Sana carefully put her arms around his neck and positioned herself before Jeongyeon secured her legs and brought her up to start walking with her like that.

" Better?" He asked.

" I can see that you're struggling" She said felling a little guilty.

" No, I'm strong, don't worry, you weight nothing, I can barely notice" He assured her, rushing his steps a bit. Sana pouted.

" I just need you to hold tightly on me" He completed, breathlessly walking through a way he swears he saw a light in the distance.

.

.

.

Although they were still far that hour, Jeongyeon was right when he said he heard a car nearby. The said car passed with an incredible speed to the narrow road covered by shadows, cutting the wind like a knife.

None other than the leader was driving it, no wonder she was in such a hurry. After that, it didn't take her a minute to arrive were she wanted.

Capsules of bullets were around the ground in the front part of the warehouse, the elegant woman exited her car and looked at that shaking her head, she saw the bodies of some of the men that worked for her near parked cars, about four cars and ten dead bodies, bullets pierced them, near the head and chest, as for the cars, broken glass and perforated doors since they were used as protection in the conflict, she walked with her head up, not worrying to much about the chaos.

_' It was their job'_

Just a car ahead the scene and a bit far from the actual door of the place, stood leaned at a black car none other than Gong Jihoon, accompanied by other two guards. She didn't take a step forward and waited for him to approach.

" What happened here?" She calmly said. Gong maintained a straight expression.

" They shot at us and we shot back, we have some down as you can see, but we succeeded in taking the place but yet the targets escaped. I already sent half of the guards to follow them in woods"

" You let them get away" She said coldly.

" When we entered they were already running, one of the walls had a hole in it. My guess is that the girl is getting handy with her powers"

" Hm, I see, once again you failed"

Gong clenched his fist without her noticing, the woman looked at the warehouse, arms crossed, she had a piercing gaze.

" Not exactly"

Right then, the guy pulled from his pocket the object the woman thought she would never see so up close, the one she wished the most to fulfill her objectives since the beginning, the magical artifact shone against her pupils, letting its subtle golden glow in the chain illuminate.

" Remind yourself to explain me how you obtained this"

She was truly surprised. Jihoon nodded.

" And my son?" She asked.

Gong Jihoon looked at her with a brief sad gaze.

" When we got here, the first measure was to call his attention, one of the men decided to blow a grenade and stuff. He came armed and with a friend, SeokJin... They fought back a lot"

" Where's he now?"

" I can take you there"

The guy put his hands in his pockets and turned around. Passing his car and to the nearest cover close of the warehouse. There laid two bodies that looked lifeless, one of them had a bullet hole near his heart while the other had a pool of blood around his leg and hole on his arm.

His mother didn't finch, JB's body looked pale at the little light illuminating them, face untouched, he was the body with his chest pierced.

Gong Jihoon was cold, merciless, one of the best people in the terms of killing others, ones once said he has no heart.

" I'm sorry, we stopped shooting once they were down but I guess it was the only way to keep them quiet. I don't know if he can survive such injuries, he's gone" He said, walking away to leave the woman with the body of her son. After all, he knew the pain of losing his family.

" Wait" She said, looking away from the sight in front of her. She didn't want to take a step forward to near the body of her son, maybe it was from pain, maybe not.

Jihoon turned his head at her.

" Send the rest of the men after Sana and we can both go back to the base and make a proper plan this time" She turned her heels and walked away, passing Jihoon that looked confused at the bodies.

" What about them?" He seriously asked.

" Let them there" She said.

It was like Jihoon's eyes got on fire with anger.

"He's your only son" He said trying not to lose his patience.

She didn't even look back.

" He stopped being my son the moment he betrayed me. That's the decision he took and if he dies because of it, so be it" She said still walking away.

Jihoon wasn't a person to talk much and just masked his pain with something else, but he was getting every moment angrier with being in that situation. There were things he couldn't just handle. But he had to, seeing the bigger pictured was his specialty.

In the end, he just followed her to her car, masking his true intentions was easy when the other people aren't paying attention, believing in his blind faith on them. He sent the rest of his men to find Sana before getting back to the said base of the operation.

.

.

.

SeokJin opened his eyes widen, noticing how they were stained by his own blood, a bullet had pass really close of his head, making a burning cut on his eyebrow.

"JB" He whispered, seeking the other with his blurry vision.

He turned to his right and saw it, his friend body laid on the floor. It cracked SeokJin's heart to see that.

" I said I would save you"

Jin got a hand up, trying to move and reach for JaeBum, he was further away from him and his strength was little.

Suddenly his hand glowed a bit.

" Finally, my powers are back" He murmured with a small smile. Although he couldn't heal himself, he could do the second best with the power he had. Saving his friend's life.

" You're so stupid" SeokJin mumbled, doing his best to get his body closer to the other. When he was finally able to, he put his hands above JaeBum's head, closing his eyes and using his powers to successfully bring back a bit of JB's consciousness by healing him, SeokJin could feel a bit of his friend's breath against his fingertips.

" You better thank me later" Were the last words Jin said before passing out again.

.

.

.

The detective was about to make a turn to an unusual placed road which leads to the warehouse, maybe that was their lucky day because if they had passed through there about five minutes earlier they could have encountered their enemies leaving.

The ride was silent all the way, with rising expectations.

" We should park the car away, who knows who's going to be there?" YoungJae said, stopping before entering the main road. It was a five minutes' walk since it was a short cut of some short.

The detective was followed by Tzuyu ahead of the group while Mina stood back a bit, the three of them with guns ready to do the necessary in that situation. YoungJae was the most expert, so he told them to stop when they got in what looked like a battlefield, the bodies were left there like they mattered nothing. The procedure in YoungJae's mind was to call the police like he always did when he had no choice but to take a life.

" Let's check out the warehouse first" He half whispered to the others.

Tzuyu was in charge to protect YoungJae's back while Mina was in Tzuyu's back already attentive, so, they kind of ignored the bodies to seek to understand what happened there by entering the warehouse.

Once they pushed the door open, nothing, just the same sight the others saw before.

" I think it's empty" Tzuyu said, finally getting out of the formation to look around.

YoungJae was the first to notice a drawing on the floor.

" Mina, look" He pointed to it.

The girl eyed curiously, taking her cellphone out and snapping a picture of the floor. She thought it was better to save it for later.

Meanwhile Tzuyu was already examining the opening at the wall made by Sana, of course, he didn't know that.

" I think they escaped" He said but not sure about it.

" I see, if one of them did this hole, they could run to the woods" YoungJae completed.

" That means Sana and Jeongyeon are out there being hunted right now, we need to hurry up" Mina said getting back to the front door.

" Where are you going?"

" I don't think there's anyone around so one of us can go in the car and search faster while two go inside the forest to see if they're there or if we can help" She explained.

The two guys were going to follow her but suddenly she stopped right in front of the door before exiting the place.

" What's wrong?" Tzuyu asked.

" How did they do a hole at wall?" She mumbled.

" Guys I'm going to take a look at the bodies and call the cops to clean this mess" YoungJae said already passing by them, Tzuyu nodded while Mina was deep in thought.

" I don't know, they could have find something to explode it" Tzuyu suggested. The other slowly shook her head.

Then Mina put her gun on a safe place on her waist and looked at the palm of her hand to use a simple spell just to see that indeed, her magic was really back like she thought so.

" Yes" She said showing it to Tzuyu.

" But that also means that the bad guys have magic, right?" Tzuyu asked.

" Probably but, now it's safer for me to go into the forest and you two can go in the car"

" Why can't I go with you?" Tzuyu asked.

" You're going to slow me down"

Tzuyu was going to protest again but YoungJae got back in a rush.

" Come here you two" He said with a bit of desperation. The detective led them to a covered place outside of the warehouse and there they finally saw, the doom of Im JaeBum, SeokJin was nowhere better near him.

" What do think happened here?" YoungJae mumbled.

" I don't know..." Tzuyu mumbled back.

Now they were really closer from the bodies, thinking that the two guys were already finished. Until they saw one of JaeBum's fingers moving.

" He's alive" Mina quickly approached the body to check if the guy had a pulse.

" I'll really call the cops now, they will lock him along with his friends if he survives like this" YoungJae said already pulling his phone. Like he said, the police was being successful to keep BamBam and Yugyeom locked, the two were being kept by a part of the force that had magic or knew about it, all covering up the best they could and if they could say, it was luck that the magic community taking action in the police department was on their side, they were really thankful, but the best the force can do is assuring to keep the bad guys locked away without engaging into confront, they didn't want to blow their cover among the non-magic society. YoungJae proceeded calling one of his newly made friends that were helping him to obtain info about magic, while Tzuyu checked JaeBum's injury.

" Check the other one" He said to Mina.

" He also has a pulse, but it's really weak"

Tzuyu frowned a bit, he had something on his mind.

" Should we help them?" He asked to the girl, vividly worried with the decision, Tzuyu was a doctor after all, he lived to save lives. But he had to ask, not knowing if that was the right choice at the moment since the two guys did so many harms to other people, innocent people.

Mina was crouched by SeokJin side, seeing how his breath was almost fading away.

She nodded hesitantly.

Tzuyu also nodded quickly signalizing he understood and got up to talk with the detective, the latter was ending the phone call.

" We're going to keep them alive as long as possible before the cops arrive, go to your car and bring my bag" The younger said and in a fast motion he got back to the bodies.

.

.

.

About ten minutes passed, Tzuyu had his hands full of blood from taking the bullets out of SeokJin's leg and arm, the guy was barely alive by then. While in JB's case, the doctor was able to find an exit point and that meant the bullet got in and out of JB's body, passing through his chest, and that was good of some short but still the situation was alarming since it wasn't possible for Tzuyu to know if other organs were damaged, judging that JB is still alive he is sure his heart is intact at least. But of course, the doctor didn't know that Jin made the tiring job of healing his friend, and that was the reason JaeBum was still alive besides the doctor's efforts.

.

.

.

" Thank God" Jeongyeon sighed and put Sana down, they successfully reached the town again, Jeongyeon followed the tiny bit of light he saw while walking through the woods and the rest was pure instinct, not even Sana with her powers could say exactly the way to any place besides that, it was troubling of course. Jeongyeon breathed heavily, they were standing at the side of the road but with a clear sight of one part of the town, not much an active place but enough to feel safer. Jeongyeon quickly searched his pockets and felt relief in finding what he was looking for.

" The bastards took my phone but didn't take my wallet" He waved it in the air and opened to see if it was enough.

Sana was just there, biting her lip while thinking.

" Can we call Mina?" She asked.

" That's the plan" Jeongyeon took some coins of his wallet.

" We just have to find a phone. We can walk away from the main roads, they could be looking for us there" He added.

Walking they went.

.

.

.

The police took about twenty minutes.

JB had a head trauma, it was not possible to know how long he would remain unconscious. Tzuyu did his best to explain to the other doctors that arrived at the scene about the state of the duo. As for the cops, they had more than enough to keep JB locked for life but SeokJin, his fate is unknown, after all, his existence was barely noticeable, the only known fact is that he was working for the Im family but besides that, he wasn't a person to do harm on purpose or even like his job, he just had to and strongly refused when he could, so his trial would be more complicate, but if he provided enough good info he could get away and live his life. That if he survived after saving JaeBum.

Tzuyu and Mina were side by side, watching as the police cars and the ambulances got far away from the scene.

"We did the right thing right?" Mina asked, eyes locked on the distance.

" I guess" Tzuyu briefly said, his instincts were saying that yes, it was the right choice but, he still held a certain strange feeling, it wasn't regret, he would never regret saving someone, but, an unsettling awareness of the consequences.

The detective was ending a talk with the last policemen there, after a minute, the cops also went away to control the situation so YoungJae got back to the others.

"I asked some favors and they'll call if one of the two say something important but, unfortunately they can't help in finding the others right now, lack of resources" He said, at that moment they reached the middle of the night, the moon was in its full peak, it passed a cold wind between them, so much happened at that day and it was just beginning.

"I'll go now, you two can go with the car and cover the sides of the forest, it's faster" Mina started walking away but Tzuyu held her arm.

" If you're going alone at least check if you have bullets"

Mina glared but nonetheless checked, she was well armed and with her magic perfectly working, she would not have any troubles if her presence got unnoticed. Tzuyu still didn't agree in splitting but arguments could take the time they didn't have.

But suddenly her phone rang.

" Unknown" She mumbled.

She answered it anyways.

" Hello? "

**_*" Mina? "*_ **

" Who is it? "Tzuyu was by her side already curious, the girl put on speaker.

Her eyes instantly formed tears in hearing her voice.

" Where are you? Did they hurt you? " Mina asked.

**_*" We're back at the town, and we're ok"*_ **

" Can you tell me where you are?"

**_*" Yes, wait a minute, Jeongyeon will explain"*_ **

Sana passed the phone to him and he tried his best to describe what he was seeing while standing there.

" We'll be there in a about ten minutes" YoungJae said.

" Do you know where is it? " Tzuyu asked.

" Yes, I do"

" Sana, we'll be right there but stay in motion, I think they still are after you " Mina said pouting a bit.

**_*"Right, we know, come quickly, bye"*_ **

"See you soon"

And like that the call ended, the trio finally entered YoungJae's car and left.

.

.

.

Gong Jihoon's men were indeed still inside the forest, looking for any traces of Sana and Jeongyeon, but it was too late.

They couldn't stand in the middle of the street and being discreet was the priority so, the meeting place was going to be by a crossing and the duo was going to get on the car really quickly for YoungJae to keep then in the streets instead of the risk of being caught standing still in that so dark night.

Almost no one was on the streets that hour, it didn't take long, Mina sighed in relief when Sana and Jeongyeon entered the car, she brought her best friend closer and gave her an assuring hug to express how she was grateful that they were okay and how the girl was safe now.

" Is everyone ok? " Jeongyeon asked, cracking his back and rubbing his sore neck, finally relaxing at the seat of the car.

" We're fine and we have news" YoungJae said.

" About? "

" JaeBum and one of his friends were arrested, both unconscious until now"

"... Did you guys get the artifact back? "

"... No, they had nothing with him" YoungJae contemplated.

" That means the others got it, someone got there and shot them, I assumed it wasn't you guys since they started shooting me as well"

" By others, you can say Gong Jihoon" Tzuyu said.

Jeongyeon nodded slowly, it was like he knew the guy would appear one time or another.

" So, he's into this too... "

" Yes, he's working with the Im's"

Jeongyeon looked outside the window of the car, passing his hands on his hair preoccupied. Sana slowly held his other hand, taking him out of the daze to look at her, she gave a small smile.

Suddenly Tzuyu shifted on his sit, just remembering one thing, he unzipped his bag and took a pistol out of it.

" Here, this if for you" He handed the gun to Jeongyeon, that held it heavily, eyeing it with a certain look of determination. Now he was sure to fight back, not that he liked it, but to take them out of this.

"Thanks" He put the gun secured on his waist. Sana eyed it nervously, like Mina, she just hated those things and what it would mean if Jeongyeon really used it. Suddenly he realized, before he was too distracted with other preoccupations to notice.

" Where's Jihyo?" Jeongyeon asked, noticing how Mina looked away and Tzuyu shook his head.

" Guys, I'll stop the car and it's better if you tell us what you know and I'll tell you what happened to us and her" YoungJae suggested.

" Sure"

They stopped in an empty street, right below a post lamp that seemed to illuminate all the place. Like that, Jeongyeon and Sana told how they were caught so quickly earlier that night, while the others explained how they found them and what happened to everyone in the process, how the finally met Gong Jihoon and the expectations to the next conflicts.

" We can keep going, I think it's better to go after them than wait for them to find us. Think about it, they already have the artifact, now they just need her to finish" YoungJae said.

" No, it's too dangerous" Jeongyeon shook his head in disapproval.

" I agree, going without any information and in small numbers is suicide" Mina added.

" I was really counting with what Jihyo knows" Jeongyeon said, keeping his eyes locked in the distance with the thought.

" Maybe she said everything she knows, right? " Tzuyu entered the talk.

" Not about the Im's, our enemy now is other, we focused too much in JB since he was the one with the most dangerous and fast actions" YoungJae surprised them with that. Well, he wasn't wrong.

" We can't trust her again, she's a traitor" Tzuyu pointed the obvious.

" Was Nayeon ok when you got her? " Sana surprisingly asked.

"... No, she was a mess" Tzuyu said, recalling how fast things happened.

Sana bit her lip, she had a thought in mind, but she eyed Jeongyeon and maybe he wouldn't agree, or even Mina that seemed marked with the betray of Jihyo.

" I think, we should ask their help" Sana said nonetheless, Tzuyu blinked slowly at her and Jeongyeon let a deep breath. She squeezed his hand more tightly.

"Jihyo is the only one we know that actually helped us with knowing what we're against of" Sana added, surer of what she wanted.

" But, she's still with Nayeon, and she was working for the guy that killed his mother" Tzuyu said pointing at Jeongyeon.

" He's right" Mina mumbled.

For the time being, both Tzuyu and Mina were the most, let's say, angry with Jihyo because for the time they knew her, well the impression wasn't a good one and they felt really bad in trusting her, and besides, Nayeon was even a bigger problem since the two only knew about her evil acts. YoungJae though was reluctant, since Jihyo really saved his life, the time was short but the girl took good care of him, even knowing he was just another piece of the game, she did her best to help him. So, he kept quiet, to see what the person that actually knew the girls for more time was thinking of that discussion. Jeongyeon was also quiet though.

"I mean, like you guys said, she sold your location for Nayeon to be safe... What if it was one of us or your friends, what would you do? "

The trio that left Jihyo looked down thinking, Mina knew that she would do anything for Sana, same for Tzuyu but in regard to all of them since he grew to like the group, for YoungJae, he can't help but to stay unsure, perhaps he didn't want to get hurt by trusting Jihyo and then discovering she was just toying with him, or perhaps, he was playing with the truth. Nevertheless, considering like that, those are all facts, Jihyo did betrayed their trust but in the other hand she helped them to conquer the knowledge they have now, so, meeting her can never be considered as a bad thing in a general aspect of course.

" I don't know Sana, we can get what we want in other place" Mina said, she really didn't want to take the risky again. But even she knew that other place was far from they reach at the moment, meaning, to think about it, they did have JaeBum and SeokJin but both were unconscious and they need anything to help them as fast as possible.

" No, she's right" Jeongyeon surprisingly intervened, agreeing with Sana's point in the conversation.

" All this time we kept searching and waiting, and yet we couldn't find them without what Nayeon provided by Jihyo, now we can't stay quiet and commit mistakes, if we need her we'll get her, whether she wants to help or not" Jeongyeon said, a bit unsure if he really wanted to go on that path.

" Alright then because, we know where the Im residence is but we don't know if we can find the bad guys there... I guess not, so they could have some kind of base... We can call Nayeon, after all she's the only one that actually worked for them and necessary to give us the information" YoungJae said taping his chin in thought.

" And we could use more hands"

Mina still didn't agree. Honestly, Jeongyeon was the person that could make that decision, he was the one that once was locked by Nayeon, but he was also the only one there that shared a real bond with her, their friendship was strong before, they were the best of each other and give them all to be there, he just still doesn't understand about how Nayeon could get to the point of working with that kind of people, hurting others to their own good. It was selfish he thought at first but now, he can recall Nayeon saying that it was all for him. It was insane.

_' Was it? '_ Jeongyeon leaned his head at the backseat of the car, hearing YoungJae, Mina and Tzuyu making a plan to when/if they have the information.

If he would think about it, he would do things for Sana's safety that wouldn't also make sense at first, after all he loves her. What matters now was if he could face Nayeon after everything.

Sana was still holding his hand, but she let go of his fingers and turned a bit to look at him, noticing his quietness.

" Are you sure you want to do this? "

And yes, Sana hated every moment of the plan, and she was the one who suggested it. To see like, she understood that Nayeon knew things they couldn't even imagine, so the girl could be the one to help them, Sana thought that she could put her own feelings of dislike towards the girl aside to do the decision, Nayeon's actions weren't the best also but Sana just wanted it all to end, too many people were getting hurt. But in the end, Sana's suggestion came from the look she saw in Nayeon's eyes when the girl let Jeongyeon go to her, when Nayeon gave up. It meant a lot, the girl preferred to set him free and Sana wanted to believe that there was hope after all.

Jeongyeon nodded, serious.

YoungJae was still in the front seat, he yawned spreading his arms to the sides.

" We should get some sleep" He preferred to cut short than think too much about it.

" But we can't go anywhere though, they'll find us" Mina said.

" They know I'm in this now, we can't get back home" Tzuyu added.

Of course, they saw Tzuyu, that would be enough to awake the curiosity and find out who he is.

YoungJae agreed, indeed they couldn't go to the places they knew in the town, sure, the detective could ask favors around to the police and find somewhere but he already asked so much and that wasn't the first time of him getting involved in dangerous jobs, of course, with that magnitude it was a first but still, he could get suspended and possibly lose the current help they are getting from the cops.

" I know a place let's find Nayeon and Jihyo" YoungJae turned the car on again. 

With that decision, now they surely had all certainty too seek for a win against that people, taking the first step to an inevitable fate.

*

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people that are still reading this :), the next chapters will be long like this one because we're near the end, I just don't know if I should cut this shorter or prolong a bit... Thank you for reading and being patient with my lack of updates, it's not everyday that I have time to write. If you're not satisfied with something here you can always tell me, I like to read your opinions, they're important, and also forgive me if there's any mistakes in grammar and wrong words or such :). Thank you, bye.


	29. An apology I guess( not an update but at the same time the last update?)

A/N: I came to accept that I failed in ending this. I mean, I spent the last 3 months trying to write chapter 29 and I'm always unpleased with the result, and it has like three versions of it, none of them finished. Even when I didn’t have time to write( really just the most rushed months of my life) I tried and I lost my track, I don't know why I should insist more. Look, in my mind I really wanted to do it because I kept thinking that there must be someone out there at least wanting to know what happens… and some of you helped me so much, thank you. I thought a lot about deleting my account and all things I did because I have problems okay, but in the end, I can't stop writing so I don’t have the guts of quitting being an author. I will keep writing other stuff when I have time, but this is the end of this fic for me, I hate quitting but I am getting so concerned about this that it is haunting me, and also, I am never writing gender bender again, nothing against it but omg it is so hard to write, I don’t know why, I guess it only happens to me haha. Sorry if you are disappointed (???) and thank you for being with me this far.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you!


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